Penalver, Enrique.Grimaldi, David A.2006-08-162006-08-162006http://hdl.handle.net/2246/579617 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 15-17).A new, virtually complete and well-preserved female specimen of Voltinia dramba Hall, Robbins, and Harvey, 2004 (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) provides new data on this fossil species, and a new fossil species of the Recent genus of Nymphalidae Dynamine Hubner, 1819 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) is described as Dynamine alexae n.sp., on the basis of a male specimen. The two species are preserved in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic. Dynamine alexae n.sp. represents the first adult nymphalid butterfly found as a fossil in amber. The four taxa of butterflies found up to the present in Dominican amber indicate post-Miocene extinctions in Hispaniola, probably caused by insularization. The butterflies found in Dominican amber do not support a hypothesis of a Gondwanan origin for many butterfly tribes and subfamilies as previously proposed; we conclude that this hypothesis is implausible based on the age of the butterflies as inferred from the fossil record. Some palaeoecologic and taphonomic questions are discussed.1703072 bytesapplication/pdfen-USQL1 .A436 no.3519 2006Voltinia dramba.Dynamine alexae.Amber fossils -- Dominican Republic.Butterflies, Fossil -- Dominican Republic.Insects, Fossil -- Dominican Republic.Paleontology -- Miocene -- Dominican Republic.Paleoecology -- Miocene -- Dominican Republic.Paleontology -- Dominican Republic.Paleoecology -- Dominican Republic.Taphonomy -- Dominican Republic.text