Abstract
The first geophilomorph centipede to be documented from Mesozoic amber and the second Mesozoic member of the order is described as Buziniphilus antiquus n. gen., n. sp. It is represented by a single, probably immature specimen from Early Cenomanian amber at La Buzinie, Champniers, Charentes, France. Buziniphilus n. gen. is most probably a member of either Schendylidae or Geophilidae, though documentation of the labrum and mandibles is required to make a definitive familial assignment. Referral of Buziniphilus n. gen. to the crown-group Adesmata, together with a reinterpretation of the structure of the forcipulae in the Jurassic Eogeophilus Schweigert & Dietl, 1997, reinforces the modern aspect of Mesozoic chilopods that had been indicated by Cretaceous scutigeromorph and scolopendromorph fossils.
Keywords: Europe; Western Europe; Invertebrata; Arthropoda; Mandibulata; Cenomanian; Phanerozoic ; Mesozoic; Cretaceous; Charente France; France; Myriapoda; biostratigraphy; lower Cenomanian; new taxa; Upper Cretaceous; amber
ETYMOLOGY. — For the type locality, La Buzinie, compounded with the usual geophilomorph suffix -philus; Antiquus, with reference to the age of the species, one of two known Mesozoic geophilomorphs.
Edgecombe G. D., Minelli A. & Bonato L. 2009. A geophilomorph Centipede (Chilopoda) from La Buzinie amber (Late Cretaceous, Cenomanian), SW France. Geodiversitas. 31 (1) : 29-39.
