Family FANNIIDAE

 

 

Hennig (1966a) identified a Baltic amber specimen as Fannia scalaris (Fabricius), which was significant in placing the family Fanniidae and the extant Fannia scalaris in the Eocene/Oligocene time period. However, a recent reexamination of the amber specimen upon which Hennig had based his identification has shown that it is a clever forgery (genuine amber on the outside and an extant specimen placed in Canada balsam on the inside) (Ross, 1993). [Is it just a coincidence that Hennig's (1966a) paper on this species was issued on April Fool's Day?]

Beier (1955: 747) recorded larval specimens of this family from the fossilized remains in a grave dated as 2,500 years old [not Triassic as stated in the Zoological Record!].



Ref.: Hennig (1966a, description of "Baltic amber" Fannia scalaris).