Department of Integrative Biology

Tethorchestia palaeorchestes, new species, is described from Oligocene amber deposits of the Dominican Republic, Island of Hispaniola. This new taxon is represented by 2 subadult specimens, and is the second known fossil member of the gammaridean amphipod family Talitridae and superfamily Talitroidea. The species is a member of the cuspidactylate group of landhoppers, but is little modified over the presumed ancestral supralittoral members of the genus that are widespread and diverse today throughout seashore marine habitats of the Caribbean region.