The first cyclaxyrid beetle from Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea: Cyclaxyridae)

Cyclaxyridae is a small cucujoid beetle family, and no fossil cylaxyrids have been known up to date. Here we report the first definitive Mesozoic cylaxyrid, Cyclaxyra cretacea sp. nov., based on a single well-preserved adult from the Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber. The fossil can be placed in the extant genus Cyclaxyra of Cyclaxyridae, based on its morphological similarities to the extant species, especially the single pair of large deep foveae located at the anterior half of the elytral epipleuron. The discovery of Cyclaxyra cretacea sp. nov. in Burmese amber suggests that the New Zealand endemic family Cyclaxyridae originated before mid-Cretaceous, and was once much more widely distributed than it is in the present.