The oldest representative of the tribe Paederini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber

Abstract The evolutionary history of Paederinae, one of the largest subfamilies in Staphylinidae, still remains poorly understood. For a better understanding, fossils are of major importance. In this study, the first fossil representative of the tribe Paederini in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber from the Kachin State of northern Myanmar is described. The examined fossil could be assigned to the subtribe Cryptobiina, which makes it the first formally described fossil of the subtribe. The external morphology of the specimen was examined and compared to all recent genera currently assigned to the subtribe. This led to the description of the new genus and species Cretobius fangornis gen. et sp. nov. presented in this study. Comparison with recent taxa indicates that the palaeoenvironment of the amber forest was humid and tropical. The finding supports the hypothesis of tropical climate in the Cretaceous Kachin amber forest and the idea of an earliest separation of the Burma Terrane from Gondwana in the Early Cretaceous.