Max et al.,
Thanks for your comments from end June. A few fieldtrips kept me away from those Pleistocene particles, but now I have to get back to them.
Max, I sent a picture of that short fragment because it showed the surface sculpture nicely. There is a longer specimen (attached) with the same surface sculpture which does not look like a histeroid or omaliine, unfortunately. It still does not look like any scarab I know.
I have four of those fragments which I now will exclude from my manuscript. It is just a bit unsatisfactory to exclude it from scarabaeoids when there is no more plausible alternative. Or is there meanwhile?
As for the size, each of my pictures should contain a 1 mm scale. I see the scale in the attached picture of my outgoing mail I sent to the list. I also see the scale in the attached photo.
These particles are pretty small.
Cheers

Frank


Dr. Frank-T. Krell
Curator of Entomology 
Commissioner, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
Chair, ICZN ZooBank Committee
Department of Zoology 
Denver Museum of Nature & Science 
2001 Colorado Boulevard 
Denver, CO 80205-5798 USA 
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Phone: (+1) (303) 370-8244 
Fax: (+1) (303) 331-6492 
http://www.dmns.org/science/museum-scientists/frank-krell
lab page: http://www.dmns.org/krell-lab

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science aspires to create a community of critical thinkers who understand the lessons of the past and act as responsible stewards of the future.



-----Original Message-----
From: Scarab Beetle Taxonomy Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Max Barclay
Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2013 6:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Pleistocene scarab fragments?

Look at the apex of the elytra.. that looks like an elytron that doesn't cover the whole abdomen, i.e. leaves some segments visible from above. I have no idea how big they are of course, but I would have started with Staphyliniformia- some histeroid or omaliine or something.. that doesn't say scarab or weevil to me..

M



Maxwell V. L. Barclay
Curator and Collection Manager
Entomology: Coleoptera & Hemiptera
Department of Life Sciences
Natural History Museum
London SW7 5BD
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________________________________
From: Scarab Beetle Taxonomy Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Paul Schoolmeesters [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 22 June 2013 13:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Pleistocene scarab fragments?

It looks a bit like Euparixoides, but these are South American species

Paul Schoolmeesters
Langeveldstraat, 23
B-3020 Herent
Belgium
e-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Coprophagous Scarabaeidae of the world
http://www.datascaraebaeoidea.net/Index.html
http://www.museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/workers/PSchoolmeesters.htm

From: Scarab Beetle Taxonomy Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank T. Krell
Sent: samedi 22 juin 2013 00:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Pleistocene scarab fragments?

Hi all,

I am a little bit lost, so it's time to ask the list, I guess.
I am working on scarab fragments of a Pleistocene site of Colorado. Most of them are Aphodius heads (or Aphodius s.l. heads, for the splitters). I also got a few elytral fragments with a pretty distinct sculpture, consisting of broad deep, largely punctured stripes and not much broader, elevated, equally largely punctured intervals (see attached photo).
I thought I have seen such elytra before, but cannot remember. I got them as possible scarabs, but I am struggling to find a North American scarab with such elytra. Could it be something else? I cc to Mike Ivie because he knows all those little families that nobody else knows (or are you on the Scarbs-L list, Mike?).
Any ideas? Thanks!

Frank


Dr. Frank-T. Krell
Curator of Entomology
Commissioner, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature Chair, ICZN ZooBank Committee Department of Zoology Denver Museum of Nature & Science
2001 Colorado Boulevard
Denver, CO 80205-5798 USA
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Phone: (+1) (303) 370-8244
Fax: (+1) (303) 331-6492
http://www.dmns.org/science/museum-scientists/frank-krell
lab page: http://www.dmns.org/krell-lab

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science aspires to create a community of critical thinkers who understand the lessons of the past and act as responsible stewards of the future.