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Silphidae
| Description | Silphidae is a family of beetles that are known commonly as large carrion beetles, carrion beetles or burying beetles. There are two subfamilies: Silphinae and Nicrophorinae. Nicrophorines are sometimes known as sexton beetles. The number of species is relatively small and around two hundred. They are more diverse in the temperate region although a few tropical endemics are known. Both subfamilies feed on decaying organic matter such as dead animals. The subfamilies differ in which uses parental care and which types of carcasses they prefer. Silphidae are considered to be of importance to forensic entomologists because when they are found on a decaying body they are used to help estimate a post-mortem interval. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphidae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Arthropoda : Insecta : Coleoptera : Silphidae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Common Name | carrion beetle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Silphidae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 35 (70%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 166 - 157 Ma Jurassic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | terrestrial (based on Insecta) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Arthropoda) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | chitin (based on Insecta) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | R. A. Crowson. 1981. The Biology of the Coleoptera. Academic Press, New York | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Carrion Beetle, Carrion Beetles, Aaskevers, Doodgravers, Asbaggar, Skinnarbaggar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphidae |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicrophorinae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 26 | 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Silphinae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 30 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Ablattaria genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Aclypea genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 13 | 2.59 Ma Pleistocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Allopliosilpha ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 3.60 Ma Pliocene | 3.60 Ma Pliocene | |
| Dendroxena genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Diamesus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Eonecrophorus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Eosilphites ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 47.8 Ma Eocene | 47.8 Ma Eocene | |
| Eusilpha genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 0.78 Ma Pleistocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Grammocolous ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 170 Ma Middle Jurassic | 170 Ma Middle Jurassic | |
 Gripecolous ✝genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 170 Ma Middle Jurassic | 170 Ma Middle Jurassic | |
| Heterosilpha genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 4 | 2.59 Ma Pleistocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Heterotemna genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Necrodes genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Necrophila genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Nicrophorus genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 20 | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Oiceoptoma genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Oxelytrum genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Palaeosilpha ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 28.1 Ma Oligocene | 28.1 Ma Oligocene | |
| Phosphuga genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 5 | 0.78 Ma Pleistocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Pliosilpha ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 3.60 Ma Pliocene | 3.60 Ma Pliocene | |
| Proscapheus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Prosilpha ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Pseudosilphites ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 237 Ma Middle Triassic | 216 Ma Late/Upper Triassic | |
| Ptomaphila genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ptomascopus genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 4 | 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Silpha genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 8 | 37.2 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Thanatophilus genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 19 | 28.1 Ma Oligocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Xylodrepa genus | listed (PBDB) | 1 | 3.60 Ma Pliocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Argytes kashmirensis species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Nicrophorns maculifrons species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1807 | Silphidae Latreille |
| 1956 | Silphidae Haupt p. 39 |
| 1981 | Silphidae Crowson p. 695 |
| 1992 | Silphidae Carpenter |
| 1995 | Silphidae Lawrence and Newton, Jr. |
| 2011 | Silphidae Bouchard et al. p. 174 |
| 2016 | Silphidae Webster p. 414 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
