Cretorabus Ponomarenko, 1977

Wang, Bo & Zhang, Haichun, 2011, A new ground beetle (Carabidae, Protorabinae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China, ZooKeys 130, pp. 229-237 : 230-231

Genus Cretorabus Ponomarenko, 1977

Type species.

Cretorabus capitatus Ponomarenko, 1977; by original designation.

Type horizon and locality.

Zaza Formation, Lower Cretaceous; Baissa, Buryatiya, Russia.

Diagnosis.

Body wide, small or medium-sized. Head large, strongly transverse. Pronotum transverse, widest in anterior or middle portion, constricted behind middle. Mesoventrite longer than mesocoxae. Metepisterna posteriorly tapering. Metacoxal plates tapering strongly in lateral half, extending as a narrow tongue up to lateral margins of metacoxae. Abdomen short, with rounded apex; last ventrite long, its anterior margin two-thirds narrower than base of abdomen. Legs short, femora slightly extending beyond body sides. Elytra smooth or with numerous rows of large punctures.

Remarks.

The genus is different from other genera in the metacoxal plates tapering strongly in lateral half, extending as a narrow tongue up to the lateral margins of metacoxae. Furthermore, it differs from Cordorabus Ponomarenko, 1977 in having the mesoventrite longer than mesocoxae, and abdomen short, with apex rounded; from Ovrabites Ponomarenko, 1977 in possessing the pronotum constricted behind middle, abdomen short, with apex rounded; from Protorabus Ponomarenko, 1977 by the last ventrite much narrower than base of abdomen, and elytra with grooves; from Lithorabus Ponomarenko, 1977 in having the metepisterna posteriorly tapering; from Nebrorabus Ponomarenko, 1989 in possessing the wider body and shorter legs.

Species included.

Six species: Cretorabus capitatus Ponomarenko, 1977 and Cretorabus latus Ponomarenko, 1977 from the Lower Cretaceous of Baissa; Cretorabus orientalis Ponomarenko, 1989 from the Lower Cretaceous of Khutel Khara of Mongolia; Cretorabus ovalis Ponomarenko, 1989 from the Lower Cretaceous of Bon-Tsagan of Mongolia; Cretorabus sulcatus Ponomarenko, Coram & Jarzembowski, 2005 from the Lower Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone Group of England; and Cretorabus rasnitsyni sp. n. from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia of China.

Key to species of Cretorabus