A remarkable assemblage of ticks from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Four fossil ticks (Arachnida: Parasitiformes: Ixodida) are described from mid-Cretaceous (ca. 100 Ma) Burmese amber of Myanmar.Ixodes antiquorumsp. nov. (Ixodidae) is the first Mesozoic record ofIxodesand the oldest representative of the most species-rich extant tick genus. Its affinities appear to lie with modern Australian forms, consistent with the hypothesis that Burmese amber hosted Gondwanan faunal elements. Even more remarkable isKhimaira fossusgen. et sp. nov. which combines a body resembling that of a soft tick (Argasidae) with a basis capitulum more like that of a hard tick (Ixodidae). We refer it to Khimairidae fam. nov. as a possible transitional form between the two main families of ticks alive today. Another member of the extinct Deinocrotonidae is described asDeinocroton copiasp. nov., while the first described adult female forCornupalpatum burmanicumis associated with a dinosaur feather barb.