ArticleInsects2025
New Amber Fossils Indicate That Larvae of Dermestidae Had Longer Defensive Structures in the Past.
Article in Insects, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Soldier Beetle Larvae Are Much More Common in the Fossil Record than Previously Anticipated.Insects · 2026Article
- The About 100 Million Years Old Enigmatic "Beak Larva" Is a Weird Click Beetle Relative.Insects · 2026Article
- Another Type of Beetle Larva of Elateridae from Kachin Amber: A Hairy Click Beetle Larva.Insects · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
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Abstract
Representatives of Dermestidae (skin, larder, and carpet beetles) play a crucial role as decomposers in global ecosystems, facilitating the recycling of animal and plant biomass to sustain nutrient cycling. Despite their widespread ecological presence and functional importance, the fossil record of their larval stages has remained sparse, with previous documentation limited to occasional discoveries. This study significantly expands the larval fossil record by identifying 36 amber-preserved specimens from the Cretaceous, Eocene, and Miocene time slices, obtained from deposits distributed globally. By challenging the historical view of larval fossil rarity, we reveal morphological changes in defensive setae over geological time, demonstrating that Cretaceous and later fossil larvae possess significantly longer absolute and relative setal lengths compared to their extant counterparts. These findings, bolstered by quantitative comparisons of setal and body dimensions across fossil and extant representatives, indicate evolutionary adaptations in defensive structures dating back at least 100 million years. Our results offer new insights into the paleobiology of the group Dermestidae, highlighting how the morphology of larvae potentially reflects historical ecological pressures and resources availability. This study emphasizes the importance of integrating fossil evidence with comparative morphology to elucidate the evolutionary trajectories and functional roles of larvae in ancient terrestrial ecosystems.
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