Michelle Álvarez-Rodríguez, Francisco Riquelme, Miguel Hernández-Patricio, Fabio Cupul- Magaña
We present a comprehensive catalog with an updated database of the fossil record of Diplopoda in the world. Taxonomic data was collected from descriptions and reports published from 1854 to the present. We also include new records from Mexican amber (Upper Oligocene-Lower Miocene), counting 83 unknown fossil inclusions, with the first records of the orders Polyxenida, Platydesmida, and Julida, as well as the families Sphaeriodesmidae and Trichopolydesmidae within Polydesmida. According to our results, Diplopoda counts 413 records featuring 299 distinct taxa ranging from the Middle Silurian to the Upper Pleistocene, representing three subclasses, two subterclasses, six superorders, 25 orders, 15 superfamilies, 55 families, 93 genera, and 161 fossil species. To date, no fossils of the order Siphonocryptida have been reported. The fossil record extends over three geological eras: the Paleozoic, with 161 taxa, including 97 species; the Mesozoic, with 53 taxa and 22 species; and the Cenozoic, with 85 taxa and 42 species. The referred material shows different forms of fossil preservation. It comprises 123 impressions, 99 compressions, 26 ichnites, predominantly from Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments, and 165 amber inclusions from late Mesozoic and Cenozoic sites. Thus, this catalog allows us to estimate the size and taxonomic composition of Diplopoda in the fossil record worldwide.
