Gomphocopris Ashworthi Gen. Et Sp. Nov. (coleoptera, Scarabaeinae, Homocoprini): an Additional New Chilean Fossil Genus and Species Extinct at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary

Based on male and female fossil beetle remains recorded in the Pilauco deposits (northern Chilean Patagonia), a new and extinct dung beetle genus and species from an upper Pleistocene sequence (16.4 to 12.8 kyr BP) namely, Gomphocopris ashworthi gen. et sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Homocoprini) is described and illustrated. The morphological analysis of these fossil remains suggest that this extinct genus and species are placed into the tribe Homocoprini due to presence of supplementary carina in the lateral area in the pronotum. Moreover, this new taxon is separated from the extant Homocoprini species by the absence hypomeral carina (well developed in all extant species); cephalic horn in males with a distinct posterior projection apically (absent in the extant species), and the unique shapes and disposition of the pronotal lobes in major male and female. We suggest that this dung beetle genus and species became extinct in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene as a consequence of the drastic environmental changes, and the extinction of most of the large mammals, which were the organisms that provided feces for the development of their larvae.