EXTINCT ATLAS WIKIEXTINCT LIFE ARCHIVE
Cycad-pollinating Beetle (Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus) · scientific reconstructionView original image

This is an original generative reconstruction, not a photograph or scientific plate.

Cycad-pollinating Beetle

Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus

Cycad pollen lies beside it in amber, and its jaws bear small specialized pits for transporting pollen.

Structured expansion · editorial review pending

Time range
About 99 million years ago
Final stage
Mid-Cretaceous
Geographic range
Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar

What was Cycad-pollinating Beetle?

This archive records Cycad-pollinating Beetle under the scientific name Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus, with an age of About 99 million years ago and a range of Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar. Cycad pollen lies beside it in amber, and its jaws bear small specialized pits for transporting pollen.

Cretoparacucujus was a boganiid beetle that likely fed inside male cycad cones, carried pollen and then visited female reproductive structures. It reveals refined beetle–gymnosperm interactions before flowering plants dominated.

Cycad-pollinating Beetle at a glance

Scientific name
Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus
Age
About 99 million years ago
Last recorded stage
Mid-Cretaceous
Known range
Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar
Broad group
insect
Archive era
Mesozoic
Habitat signals
Forest
Documented regions
Asia

How was Cycad-pollinating Beetle built?

Overall body plan

Cycad pollen lies beside it in amber, and its jaws bear small specialized pits for transporting pollen.

Exoskeleton and segmentation

The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Cycad-pollinating Beetle, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.

Wings and sensory structures

Cretoparacucujus was a boganiid beetle that likely fed inside male cycad cones, carried pollen and then visited female reproductive structures. It reveals refined beetle–gymnosperm interactions before flowering plants dominated.

Growth and individual variation

A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Cycad-pollinating Beetle.

EukaryotaAnimaliaArthropodaInsectaCretoparacucujus cycadophilus

How did Cycad-pollinating Beetle live?

Cretoparacucujus was a boganiid beetle that likely fed inside male cycad cones, carried pollen and then visited female reproductive structures. It reveals refined beetle–gymnosperm interactions before flowering plants dominated. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.

What shaped its ecological limits?

Its populations depended on vegetation, freshwater margins and atmospheric conditions. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.

Where and when did Cycad-pollinating Beetle live?

This archive currently lists About 99 million years ago; Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.

01

Documented geographic range

Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.

02

Time window

About 99 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as Mid-Cretaceous. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.

03

Environmental setting

The archive uses the broad habitat labels Forest. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.

What evidence supports reconstructions of Cycad-pollinating Beetle?

01

Primary record

Myanmar amber preserves the complete beetle, mandibular pollen-carrying structures and abundant monosulcate cycad pollen, directly connecting insect and host plant.

02

Comparative anatomy

Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.

03

Age and locality

Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Cycad-pollinating Beetle within About 99 million years ago and Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.

04

Open entity records

Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.

Why did Cycad-pollinating Beetle disappear?

Later Cretaceous changes in cycad communities and pollination networks ended this species and its particular association.

The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.

Cycad-pollinating Beetle FAQ

What was Cycad-pollinating Beetle?

This archive records Cycad-pollinating Beetle under the scientific name Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus, with an age of About 99 million years ago. Cycad pollen lies beside it in amber, and its jaws bear small specialized pits for transporting pollen.

When did Cycad-pollinating Beetle live?

The current archive range is About 99 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is Mid-Cretaceous.

Where was Cycad-pollinating Beetle found?

The archive currently lists Tropical resin forest · Northern Myanmar. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.

How do scientists know about Cycad-pollinating Beetle?

Myanmar amber preserves the complete beetle, mandibular pollen-carrying structures and abundant monosulcate cycad pollen, directly connecting insect and host plant.

Check the source record

Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.

How has this record changed?

  1. Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
  2. Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
  3. Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
  4. Initial bilingual species record published.

Found an error or a better source?

Submit a correction