Burmese amber and amber from other periods and regions became a rich source of new extinct insect species and yielded important insights in insect evolution in the dimension of time. Amber fossils have contributed to the understanding of the phylogeny, biology, and biogeography of insects and other groups, and have also gained great importance for dating molecular trees. Another major potential is the documentation of faunal, floral and climatic shifts. Evolutionary transitions can be well‐documented in amber fossils and can reveal anatomical transformations and the age of appearance of structural features. Here, using a new stem group species of Strepsiptera from Burmite, we evaluate this potential of amber insect fossils to assess the current phylogeny of Strepsiptera, with the main emphasis on the early splitting events in the stem group. Amber fossils have greatly contributed to the understanding of the evolution of Strepsiptera in the late Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. †Heterobathmilla kakopoios Pohl and Beutel gen. et sp. n. described here is placed in the stem group of the order, in a clade with †Kinzelbachilla (†Kinzelbachillidae) and †Phthanoxenos (†Phthanoxenidae). †Phthanoxenidae has priority over †Kinzelbachillidae, and the latter is synonymised. The superb details available from this new fossil allowed us to explore unique features of the antennae, mouthparts, and male copulatory apparatus, and to provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for the order. The younger †Protoxenos from Eocene Baltic amber was confirmed as sister to all remaining extinct and extant groups of Strepsiptera, whereas the position of the Cretaceous †Cretostylops in the stem group remains ambivalent. While the value of Burmite and amber from other periods has a recognized impact on our knowledge of the evolution in various lineages, this new fossil does not fundamentally change our picture of the phylogeny and evolution of early Strepsiptera. However, it offers new insights into the morphological diversity in the early evolution of the group.

中文翻译：

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关于缅甸琥珀对了解昆虫进化的价值：来自†Heterobathmilla的见解——一种特殊的链翅目（昆虫纲）茎群属

缅甸琥珀和其他时期和地区的琥珀成为新灭绝昆虫物种的丰富来源，并在时间维度上对昆虫进化产生了重要见解。琥珀化石有助于了解昆虫和其他群体的系统发育、生物学和生物地理学，并且对于确定分子树的年代学也具有重要意义。另一个主要潜力是记录动物、花卉和气候变化。进化转变可以在琥珀化石中得到很好的记录，并且可以揭示解剖学转变和结构特征出现的年龄。在这里，我们使用来自 Burmite 的链翅目新茎群物种，评估琥珀昆虫化石的潜力，以评估链翅目当前的系统发育，主要强调茎群中的早期分裂事件。琥珀化石对了解中生代晚期和新生代链翅目的演化有很大贡献。†Heterobathmilla kakopoios Pohl 和 Beutel gen。等人。n. 此处描述的被置于该目的茎组中，与† Kinzelbachilla (†Kinzelbachillidae) 和† Phthanoxenos (†Phthanoxenidae) 形成一个进化枝。†Phthanoxenidae 优先于†Kinzelbachillidae，后者是同义词。从这个新化石中获得的极好的细节使我们能够探索触角、口器和雄性交配装置的独特特征，并为该目提供系统发育假说。来自始新世波罗的海琥珀的年轻† Protoxenos被确认为所有剩余的已灭绝和现存链翅目组的姐妹，而白垩纪† Cretostylops的位置在茎组中仍然是矛盾的。虽然其他时期的 Burmite 和琥珀的价值对我们对各种谱系进化的认识产生了公认的影响，但这种新化石并没有从根本上改变我们对早期链翅目系统发育和进化的看法。然而，它为该群体早期进化中的形态多样性提供了新的见解。