Eobelinae are an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

that throve in the late

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

. They belong to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Nemonychidae Nemonychidae is a small family of weevils, placed within the ''primitive weevil'' group because they have straight rather than geniculate (elbowed) antennae. They are often called pine flower weevils. As in the Anthribidae, the labrum appears ...

. The Eobelidae were widespread, occurring at least in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

during the

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...

and

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

(about ).Ming ''et al.''(2006)

Description

Adult Eobelinae are recognizable by their elongated and flat body and long

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

("snout"), the latter being longer than the head and

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

together. Like in other belids, their antennae were straight, not elbowed as in the true weevils (

Curculionidae The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families with 6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae. Th ...

); they insert near the rostrum's center. The "forehead" between the rostrum base and the eyes has a marked outward bulge. The

tibiae The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the t ...

of the middle and hind legs have spurs at their tips. Their

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are unknown. Presumably, they fed on the wood and fruits of diseased or dying plants or on deadwood, with healthy plants less important as food.Marvaldi ''et al.''(2006)

Systematics

Genera: *†'' Archaeorrhynchus'' Martynov, 1926 (Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan) *†'' Belonotaris'' Arnoldi, 1977 (Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan - Early Cretaceous of Russia) *†'' Davidibelus'' Zherikhin & Gratshev, 2004 (Early Cretaceous of Brazil) *†'' Eobelus'' Arnoldi, 1977 (Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan) *†'' Longidorsum'' Zhang, 1977 (Early Cretaceous of China) *†'' Microprobelus'' Ming, Dong & Chungkun, 2006 (Yixian Early Cretaceous of Lingyuan City, China) *†'' Montsecbelus'' Zherikhin & Gratshev, 1997 (Early Cretaceous of Spain) *†'' Probelopsis'' Arnoldi, 1977 (Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan) *†'' Probelus'' Arnoldi, 1977 (Late Jurassic of Karatau Range, Kazakhstan - Yixian Early Cretaceous of Hebei, China)

Footnotes

References

* (2006): Phylogeny of the Oxycoryninae sensu lato (Coleoptera: Belidae) and evolution of host-plant associations. ''Invertebrate Systematics'' 20: 447–476. (HTML abstract) * (2006): A new fossil weevil (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea, Belidae) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China. ''Progress in Natural Science'' 16 (8): 885–888. (HTML abstract) {{Taxonbar, from=Q5381594

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

Mesozoic arthropods Prehistoric beetles