Three new Mesozoic Staphylinids (Coleoptera) from Liaoning, China

A new genus and three new species of well–preserved Oxytelinae are described and illustrated from the Yixian Formation of Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, in northeastern China. These three staphylinids are placed into a new extinct genus, Sinoxytelus gen. nov.: Sinoxytelus euglypheus sp. nov., Sinoxytelus breviventer sp. nov., and Sinoxytelus longisetosus sp. nov. This finding documents the first record of fossil Oxytelinae in China. Provisionally, we consider the age of the Yixian Formation as transitional between the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous.