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Psephenidae
| Description | Water-penny beetles are a family (the Psephenidae) of 272 species (in 35 genera) of aquatic beetles found on all continents, in both tropical and temperate areas. The young, which live in water, resemble tiny pennies. The larvae feed – usually nocturnally – on algae on rock surfaces. The presence of water penny larvae in a stream can be used as a test for the quality of the water, as they are pollution-sensitive. They cannot live in habitats where rocks acquire a thick layer of algae, fungi, or inorganic sediment. Therefore, their presence along with other diverse phyla signifies good-quality water. They are around 6 to 10 millimeters in length. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psephenidae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera : Psephenidae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Common Name | water penny beetle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Psephenidae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 12 (52%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 99.6 - 93.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | terrestrial (based on Insecta) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Arthropoda) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | chitin (based on Insecta) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | R. A. Crowson. 1981. The Biology of the Coleoptera. Academic Press, New York | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Water-penny Beetles, Water Penny Beetle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psephenidae |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eubrianacinae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 10 | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Eubriinae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 1 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Psepheninae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 1 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Psephenoidinae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 1 | 0.78 Ma Pleistocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Acneus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Belicinus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dicranopselaphus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ectopria genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Eubrianax genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 47.8 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Heteropsephenoides genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Homoeogenus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Macroeubria genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Mataeopsephus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pheneps genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Protacnaeus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 37.2 Ma Eocene | |
| Psephenella ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 28.1 Ma Oligocene | 28.1 Ma Oligocene | |
| Psephenopalpus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Psephenops genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Psephenotarsis genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Psephenus genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Pspehenops genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Schinostethus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Sclerocyphon genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
Obsolete Names
| Name | Source | Taxon Rank | Taxonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eubriidae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera : Eubriidae |
| Psephenoididae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera : Psephenoididae |
| Eurypalpidae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera : Eurypalpidae |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1854 | Psephenidae Lacordaire |
| 1981 | Psephenidae Crowson p. 695 |
| 1995 | Psephenidae Lawrence and Newton, Jr. |
| 2011 | Psephenidae Bouchard et al. |
| 2016 | Psephenidae Webster p. 449 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
