TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - A putative fossil sejid mite (Parasitiformes: Mesostigmata) in Baltic amber re-identified as an anystine (Acariformes: Prostigmata)
VL  - 58
IS  - 3
SP  - 665
EP  - 672
PY  - 2018
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Dunlop, Jason A.
AU  - Walter, David E.
AU  - Kontschán, Jenő
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/acarologia/20184263
DO  - 10.24349/acarologia/20184263
DA  - 2018-07-25
ET  - 2018-07-25
KW  - Sejida
KW  - Sejus
KW  - Anystina
KW  - fossil record
KW  - Mesostigmata
AB  - The Acari (mites) is currently interpreted to consist of two superorders. In contrast to the relatively rich history of the mite superorder Acariformes, fossils of the Parasitiformes are extremely rare. This is especially true of the most diverse order, Mesostigmata, with only nine families recorded, including four named species, having been described so far. As part of a wider effort to clarify the diversity of Baltic amber Mesostigmata the historically oldest fossil, Sejus bdelloides Koch and Berendt, 1854, is re-examined. While clearly a mite, it is not a mesostigmatan, but a member of the Prostigmata (Acariformes), referable to the Anystina. Thus of the three main mesostigmatan lineages currently recognised both Sejida and Trigynaspida lack a fossil record. Monogynaspida can be traced with confidence back to the Eocene (ca. 44 - 49 Ma). 
ER -