Synchrotron X-ray microtomography reveals the first fossil species of the “Cryptoramorphini” group (Coleoptera: Ptinidae: Dorcatominae) from the lowermost Eocene Oise amber of France

Abstract Ptinid beetles (Ptinidae Latreille, 1802) are essential components of forest and terrestrial trophic networks, exhibiting highly diverse ecologies. While many species are vital as decomposers of organic matter, others are widely recognized as significant pests of stored products and cultural heritage. Understanding the evolutionary timeline of this ecologically and economically important lineage is crucial, yet its fossil record predating the late Eocene remains understudied. Herein, we examined a well-preserved ptinid inclusion from the lowermost Eocene Oise amber (Sparnacian, ∼53 Ma, France) using synchrotron-based phase-contrast X-ray microtomography. We describe †Imaginedraconium daemon gen. et sp. nov., which represents the first fossil record of the “Cryptoramorphini” group and the second earliest documented occurrence of the subfamily Dorcatominae Thomson, 1859. This new taxon provides a rare glimpse into a subfamily whose early history is otherwise almost exclusively documented from the later Baltic amber (∼35 Ma). This discovery documents the presence of a dorcatomine beetle in the warm, humid forests of the Oise amber deposit, although its ecology remains uncertain, and offers a valuable temporal calibration point for future phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses of the family.