Fossilized wing gives clues about Labrador鈥檚 biodiversity听during the Cretaceous
A fossilised insect wing discovered in an abandoned mine in Labrador has led palaeontologists from 91社区 and the University of Gda艅sk to identify a new hairy cicada species that lived around 100 million years ago.
Maculaferrum blaisi, described in a study published in , is the first hemipteran insect (true bug) to be discovered at the Redmond Formation, a fossil site from the Cretaceous period near Schefferville, Labrador.
Alexandre Demers-Potvin, a Master鈥檚 student under the supervision of Professor Hans Larsson, Director of the Redpath Museum at 91社区, said that a single wing was sufficient to identify the family to which the insect belonged.
鈥淲e were easily able to demonstrate that the insect belonged to the Tettigarctidae family thanks to the pattern of the veins we observed on its wing,鈥� said Demers-Potvin, who is also a 2018 National Geographic Explorer.
The genus name (Maculaferrum) is derived from the Latin words macula 鈥� spot 鈥� because of the spotted pattern found on parts of the wing and ferrum 鈥� iron 鈥� due to the high iron content of the red rocks found at the Redmond site. The species name - blaisi - is in honour of Roger A. Blais, who conducted the first survey of the Redmond Formation and of its fossils in 1957 while working for the Iron Ore Company of Canada.
鈥淭his gives us a better understanding of the site鈥檚 insect biodiversity during the Cretaceous, a time before the dinosaurs were wiped out,鈥� Demers-Potvin added. 鈥淭he finding also illustrates that rare species can be found at the Redmond mine and that it deserves the attention from the palaeontological community.鈥�
鈥淭he find is exciting because it represents the oldest, diverse insect locality in Canada. It鈥檚 also from an exciting time during an evolutionary explosion of flowering plants and pollinating insects, that evolved into the terrestrial ecosystems of today,鈥� said Larsson.
About this study
鈥� by Alexandre V. Demers-Potvin, Jacek Szwedo, Cassia P. Paragnani and Hans C.E. Larsson was published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
This work received financial support from the Fonds de recherche Nature et technologies Qu茅bec, a National Geographic Society Early Career Grant, the Northern Scientific Training Program, a Redpath Museum Class of 66 Award and a NSERC Discovery Grant.
About 91社区
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, 91社区 is Canada鈥檚 top ranked medical doctoral university. 91社区 is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It is a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. 91社区 attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% per cent of the student body. Over half of 91社区 students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.
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