Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

The first fossil representative of the extant clubtail dragonfly genus Lindenia from the mid-Miocene of Öhningen, Germany

Mathieu Boderau, Michael S. Engel, Iwan Stössel, and Andre Nel

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 69 (1), 2024: 23-27 doi:10.4202/app.01123.2023

Clubtail dragonfly Lindenia heeri sp. nov., is described and figured as the first fossil representative of the extant lindeniine genus Lindenia, based on a finely preserved forewing from the mid-Miocene lacustrine maar of Öhningen, Germany. The new species differs from the type and only species of Lindenia tetraphylla in the dark brown pterostigma covering ten cells vs. only five. Otherwise its forewing venation is identical to that of the modern species. The paleoclimatic data fit well with the climatic preferences of extant Lindenia tetraphylla, consistent with the generally warmer climate of that region during that period of time, allowing for more Mediterranean or even subtropical elements of the flora and fauna to persist.

Key words: Insecta, Odonata, Anisoptera, Gomphidae, Lindeniinae, fossil record, Miocene, Germany.

Mathieu Boderau [mathieuboderau@gmail.com; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7088-9560] and André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4241-7651], Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université des Antilles, CP50, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France. Michael S. Engel [mengel@amnh.org; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3067-077X], Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université des Antilles, CP50, 57 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France; Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024-5192, USA; and Museum at Prairiefire, 5801 West 135th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66223, USA. Iwan Stössel [istoessel@ethz.ch; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4738-8641], ETH Zürich, Department of Earth Sciences, NO D 51.1, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.


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