Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series ((VERT))

Abstract

Nine fossil beetles and seven fossil brood balls made by dung beetles are described from Laetoli (Pliocene). Seven beetles are Tenebrionidae, tribes Tentyriini and Molurini, one is a June beetle of the tribe Schizonychini (Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) and one a rhinoceros beetle (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) described as Calcitoryctes magnificus sp.n. Seven fossil dung beetle brood balls are described as Coprinisphaera laetoliensis ichnosp. n. and C. ndolanyanus ichnosp. n., the first formally described scarab ichnofossils from Africa. Two specimens of C. laetoliensis show the largest known traces of kleptoparasites described as Lazaichnus amplus ichnosp. n. The fossil beetles and brood balls of Laetoli weakly indicate a grassland, rather than a dense woodland habitat.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Basilewsky, P. (1951). Loges fossiles de coprophages. Bulletin et Annales, Société Entomologique de Belgique, 87, 26–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertling, M., Braddy, S. J., Bromley, R. G., Demathieu, G. R., Genise, J., Mikuláš, R., Nielsen, J.K., Nielsen, K. S. S., Rindsberg, A. K., Schlirf, M., & Uchman, A. (2006). Names for trace fossils: A uniform approach. Lethaia, 39, 256–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Britton, E. B. (1960). Beetles from the London Clay (Eocene) of Bognor Regis, Sussex. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology, 4, 27–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cambefort, Y., & Walter, P. (1991). Dung beetles in tropical forests in Africa. In I. Hanski & Y. Cambefort (Eds.), Dung beetle ecology (pp. 198–210). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doyen, J. T., & Poinar, G. O. (1994). Tenebrionidae from Dominican amber. Entomologica Scandinavica, 25, 27–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, I. J., Briggs, D. E., & Archer, M. (1998). Three-dimensionally mineralized insects and millipedes from the Tertiary of Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. Palaeontology, 41, 835–851.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duringer, P., Brunet, M., Cambefort, Y., Likius, A., Mackaye, H. T., Schuster, M., & Vignaud, P. (2000). First discovery of fossil dung beetle brood balls and nests in the Chadian Pliocene australopithecine levels. Lethaia, 33, 277–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duringer, P., Schuster, M., Genise, J. F., Mackaye, H. T., Vignaud, P., & Brunet, M. (2007). New termite trace fossils: Galleries, nests and fungus combs from the Chad basin of Africa (Upper Miocene–Lower Pliocene). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 251, 323–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endrődi, S. (1985). The Dynastinae of the world. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, M. C. (1966). Contribuição para o estudo dos dinastíneos africanos V. Os dinastíneos da região etiópica. Revista de Entomologia de Moçambique, 8, 3–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebien, H. (1937). Katalog der Tenebrioniden (Col. Heteromera) Teil I. Pubblicazioni del Museo Entomologico “Pietro Rossi” Duino, 2, 505–883.

    Google Scholar 

  • Genise, J. F. (2004). Ichnotaxonomy and ichnostratigraphy of chambered trace fossils in palaeosols attributed to coleopterans, ants and termites. In D. McIlroy (Ed.), The application of ichnology to palaeo­environmental and stratigraphic analysis (pp. 419–453). London: Geological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Genise, J. F., Mángano, M. G., Buatois, L. A., Laza, J. H., & Verde, M. (2000). Insect trace fossil associations in paleosols: The Coprinisphaera ichnofacies. Palaios, 15, 49–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genise, J. F., Laza, J. H., & Rindsberg, A. K. (2006). The ichnogenus Coprinisphaera Sauer 1955 (Ichnotaxa, Insecta, Coleoptera, Coprinisphaeridae): Proposed conservation. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 63, 243–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzáles-Megías, A., & Sánchez-Piñero, F. (2003). Effects of brood parasitism on host reproductive success: Evidence from larval interactions among dung beetles. Oecologia, 134, 195–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimaldi, D., & Engel, M. S. (2005). Evolution of the insects. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halffter, G., & Edmonds, W. D. (1982). The nesting behavior of dung beetles (Scarabaeinae). An ecological and evolutive approach. México: Instituto de Ecología.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T., & Kweka, A. (2011). Paleontological localities on the Eyasi Plateau, including Laetoli. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context (Geology, ­geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, Vol. 1, pp. 17–45). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hörnschemeyer, T. (1994). Ein fossiler Tenebrionidae Ceropria? messelense n. sp. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Diaperinae) aus dem Mitteleozän der Grube Messel bei Darmstadt. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 170, 75–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (2008). Opinion 2211 (Case 3360) The ichnogenus Coprinisphaera Sauer, 1955 (Ichnotaxa, Coprinisheridae): Generic name given precedence over Fontanai Roselli, 1939. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 65, 318–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jameson, M. L., & Ratcliffe, B. C. (2002). Series Scarabaeiformia Crowson 1960 (= Lamellicornia), Superfamily Scarabaeoidea Latreille 1802, introduction. In R. H. Arnett, M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley, & H. J. Frank (Eds.), American beetles (Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea, Vol. 2, pp. 1–5). Boca Raton: CRC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabakov, O. N. (1988). Novyi plastinchatousyi zhuk roda Copris (Insecta) iz pliotsena Gruzii. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 1988(3), 110–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaszab, Z., & Schawaller, W. (1984). Eine neue Schwarzkäfer-Gattung und -Art aus Dominikanischem Bernstein (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde (B), 109, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingston, J. D., & Harrison, T. (2007). Isotopic dietary reconstruction of Pliocene herbivores at Laetoli: Implications for early hominin paleoecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 243, 272–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitching, J. W. (1980). On some fossil Arthropoda from the Limeworks Makapansgat, Potgietersrus. Palaeontologia Africana, 23, 63–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klemperer, H. G. (1983). Brood ball construction by the non-brooding Coprini Sulcophanaeus carnifex and Dichotomius torulosus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Ecological Entomology, 8, 61–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klemperer, H. G., & Boulton, R. (1976). Brood burrow construction and brood care by Heliocopris japetus (Klug) and Heliocopris hamadryas (Fabricius) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Ecological Entomology, 1, 19–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krell, F.-T. (2000). The fossil record of Mesozoic and Tertiary Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera: Polyphaga). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 14, 871–905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krell, F.-T. (2006). Fossil record and evolution of Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera: Polyphaga). Coleopterists Society Monograph, 5, 120–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krell, F.-T. (2007). Catalogue of fossil Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera: Polyphaga) of the Mesozoic and Tertiary – Version 2007. Denver Museum of Nature & Science Technical Report, 2007–08, 68 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krell, F.-T. (2008). Comments on the proposed conservation of the ichnogenus Coprinisphaera Sauer, 1955 (Ichnotaxa, Insecta, Coleoptera, Coprinisphaeridae). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 65, 50–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krell, F.-T., Krell-Westerwalbesloh, S., Weiss, I., Eggleton, P., & Linsenmair, K. E. (2003). Spatial separation of Afrotropical dung beetle guilds: A trade-off between competitive superiority and energetic constraints (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Ecography, 26, 210–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacroix, M. (1989). Insectes Coléoptères Melolonthidae (1er partie). Faune de Madagascar, 73, 1–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laza, J. H. (2006). Dung-beetle fossil brood balls: The ichnogenera Coprinisphaera Sauer and Quirogaichnus (Coprinisphaeridae). Ichnos, 13, 217–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leakey, L. S. B. (1952). Lower Miocene invertebrates from Kenya. Nature, 169, 624–625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medvedev, G. S. (1965). Adaptions of leg structure in desert darkling beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). Entomological Review, 44, 473–485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikuláš, R., & Genise, J. F. (2003). Traces within traces: Holes, pits and galleries in walls and fillings of insect trace fossils in paleosols. Geologica Acta, 1, 339–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nel, J. A. J., & Maas, B. (2004). Bat-eared fox Otocyon megalotis (Desmarest, 1822). In C. Sillero-Zubiri, M. Hoffmann, & D. W. Macdonald (Eds.), Status survey and conservation action plan canids: Foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs (pp. 183–189). Gland: IUCN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, L. E., & Downing, K. F. (2001). Paleoecology of an exceptionally preserved arthropod fauna from lake deposits of the Miocene Barstow Formation, southern California, U.S.A. Palaios, 16, 175–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulian, R. (1976). Three fossil dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from the Kenya Miocene. Journal of the East African Natural History Society and National Museum, 31(158), 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Péringuey, L. (1901). Descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera of South Africa (Lucanidae and Scarabaeidae). Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society, 12, 1–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piton, L., & Théobald, N. (1935). La faune entomologique des gisements Mio-Pliocènes du Massif Central. Revue des Sciences Naturelles d’Auvergne, 1, 65–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponomarenko, A. G. (2002). Superorder Scarabaeidea Laicharting, 1781. Order Coleoptera Linné, 1758. The beetles. In A. P. Rasnitsyn & D. L. J. Quicke (Eds.), History of insects (pp. 164–176). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, R. D. (1960). A revision of the species of Schizonycha Dejean (Col.: Melolonthidae) from southern Africa. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology, 9, 63–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe, B. C. (2003). The dynastine scarab beetles of Costa Rica and Panama (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae). Bulletin of the University and Nebraska State Museum, 16, 1–506.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rougon, D., & Rougon, D. (1980). Le cleptoparasitisme en zone sahélienne: phenomena adaptif d’insectes Coléoptères Scarabaeidae aux climats arides et semi-arides. Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des Sciences, Paris (D), 291, 417–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sands, W. A. (1987). Ichnocoenoses of probable termite origin from Laetoli. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 409–433). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato, H., & Imamori, M. (1987). Nesting behaviour of a subsocial African ball-roller Kheper platynotus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Ecological Entomology, 12, 415–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spahr, U. (1981). Systematischer Katalog der Bernstein- und Kopal-Käfer (Coleoptera). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde (B), 80, 1–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Su, D. F., & Harrison, T. (2007). The paleoecology of the Upper Laetolil Beds at Laetoli. A reconsideration of the large mammal evidence. In R. Bobe, Z. Alemseged, & A. K. Behrensmeyer (Eds.), Hominin environments in the East African Pliocene. An assessment of the faunal evidence (pp. 279–313). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • von Lengerken, H. (1954). Die Brutfürsorge- und Brutpflegeinstinkte der Käfer (2nd ed.). Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Geest and Portig.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickham, H. F. (1914). Twenty new Coleoptera from the Florissant shales. Transactions of the Entomology Society of America, 40, 257–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf-Schwenninger, K., & Schawaller, W. (2007). Coleoptera: Beetles. In D. M. Martill, G. Bechly, & R. L. Loveridge (Eds.), The Crato fossil beds of Brazil (pp. 340–350). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Terry Harrison, New York University, for the patient loan of the specimens, to Harry Taylor, Photo Unit of The Natural History Museum, London, for most of the photographs, to Brett Ratcliffe, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, and Roger-Paul Dechambre, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, for helpful comments about the fossil dynastine, and to Jorge Genise, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina, for careful criticism on a former version of the manuscript. Ken Carpenter and Thomas Garner, DMNS Earth Sciences Department, helped with cutting the fossil brood balls.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO, 80205, USA

    Frank-T. Krell

  2. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Rosenstein 1, D-70191, Stuttgart, Germany

    Wolfgang Schawaller

Authors
  1. Frank-T. Krell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wolfgang Schawaller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank-T. Krell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Human Origins Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Terry Harrison

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Krell, FT., Schawaller, W. (2011). Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera). In: Harrison, T. (eds) Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9962-4_19

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation