Extinct Neuropterida of Brazil (Insecta: Neuroptera, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera)

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT The currently-known extinct Neuropterida fauna of Brazil comprises 18 families, 55 genera and 99 species (Neuroptera: 15 families, 49 genera, 89 species; Raphidioptera: 1 family, 2 genera, 5 species, + 1 genus incertae sedis with 2 species; Megaloptera: 1 family, 2 genera, 2 species; Order incertae sedis: 1 family, 1 genus, 1 species). All of these species have been described since 1980 and they collectively constitute the overwhelming majority of extinct Neuropterida presently known from South America. Other than one species of Permithonidae (Neuropterida incertae sedis) described from the Late Permian Irati Formation (Paraná Basin) of Rio Grande do Sul state, all extinct Brazilian Neuropterida taxa are known only from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation (Araripe Basin) in Ceará and Pernambuco states. Of the 35 authors who have contributed to the descriptive literature of this fauna over the past 42 years, the work of Brazilian paleontologists Rafael Gioia Martins-Neto [1954-2010] and Maria Aparecida Vulcano-d'Andretta [1921-2018] - who together contributed to the description of 67 species - is especially notable. However, since their deaths, extinct Neuropterida have received little attention from Brazilian scientists and most later work on this fauna has been undertaken by workers outside Brazil. We provide this updated synthesis of the extinct Neuropterida of Brazil in order to centralize baseline knowledge for this fauna, to support efforts to document and conserve Brazilian fossil sites, and to encourage future work on the fauna, particularly by the next generation of Brazilian paleoentomologists.