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L amos : Tokukobelba gen. nov. (Acari: Oribatida: Damaeidae) 93 very likely plesiomorph for the Brachypylina. Here Tokukobelba does not share the derived states that characterize almost all other Damaeidae. Furthermore, several other features such as the apophyses Aa, Ap, the unusually developed ven- tral apophyses, the conspicuous epimeral groove IV, and the verrucose integumental sculpturing echo traits found in genera such as Costeremus , Hungarobelba and Veloppia which appear to be closely related to the Damaeidae. Most of these apparently more primitive traits of Tokukobelba such as the verrucose sculpturing, the presence of Aa and Ap, the presence of only 2 setae of femur IV and the tibal associated se- tation of 1-1-1-1 may nevertheless be seen as being synapomorphies of the genus. Some traits may be parallelisms or reversals at the level of the phenotype, but derived features of Tokuko­ belba at the level of the genotype, Parallelisms are of course more likely in closely related taxa, and are indicative of genealogical and phyloge- netic relationship. Tokukobelba shares a trochanteral setation of 1-1-2-1, a genual setation of 4-4-3-3, a genual associated setation of 1-1-1-0 and an emer- gent famulus with Belba . However, these are primitive brachypyline traits which have been retained by most damaeids. The character state of absence of spinae adnatae which these two genera display similarly may be plesiomorph for the Damaeidae and is not a strong phylogenetic character. Tokukobelba does not possess those traits of Belba which may be interpreted as hav- ing been derived within the Damaeidae such as presence of 16 and 13 setae on tarsus III and IV respectively with v1´´ being absent. It also does not share any of the highly derived features of the Belba corynopus species group such as an el- evated dome-like notogaster, a femoral setation of 7-7-5-5 or epimeral neotrichy. Tokukobelba similarly does not share the probably derived elevated trochanteral, femoral and genual seta- tions or the similarly derived tibial associated setal formula of 0-1-1-0 of Metabelba , Mirobelba and Metabelbella or the derived tibial associated setation of 0-0-0-0, sunken nymphal famulus and presence of spinae adnatae of the group of gen- era centered on Damaeus and Epidamaeus . Tokukobelba stands relatively isolated within the Damaeidae, although it shares several unusual traits with members of Dyobelba tectopediosa species group, and seems to have had a pro- longed independent evolutionary trajectory. This is also suggested by the unusual palptarsal and tarsal setation of the genus which both appear to be highly derived. Tokukobelba appears to oc- cupy a relatively basal position within its family. A detailed redescription of Costeremus yezoensis and C . barbatus may help to give us more clarity on the character polarities involved. While Tokukobelba is undoubtedly a damaeid mite, the morphology of the genus with its mix of ancestral and derived characters, appears to demonstrate well the mosaic evolution charac- teristic of ancient taxa such as Archaeopteryx M eyer , 1861, basally situated within their clades. One reason for the considerable number of char- acters distributed in a mosaic pattern, not only in the Damaeidae but also in other oribatids ( W oas 1990, 1991, 1998, 2002), appears to lie in the great phylogenetic age of these mites with the oldest oribatids known dating to the Devonian ( N orton et al. 1988), although molecular stud- ies suggest a Precambrian origin of the order ( S chaefer et al. 2010). Based on the fossil record of the oribatid infra­ order Desmonomata ( A rillo et al. 2009, D unlop et al. 2016) we may reasonably assume that mites of the family Damaeidae, with an appear- ance similar to that of extant members of the tax- on, were present on this planet at least since the early to middle Jurassic and are possibly much more ancient than that. Tokukobelba appears to be a living fossil and may perhaps even prove to be the sister group to all other Damaeidae. At any event, it is a morphologically very extraordinary genus. Acknowledgements I wish to thank Dr. S teffen W oas of the State Muse- um of Natural History Karlsruhe for providing access to collection material, for reviewing the manuscript and for numerous stimulating discussions. I also want to ex- press my gratitude to Prof. Dr. L udwig B eck from the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe for revie- wing the manuscript and to S tefan S charf for his kind technical assistance in the pre-print phase of this con- tribution and for the excellent layout. References A oki , J .- I . (1970): The oribatid mites of the islands of Tsushima. – Bulletin National Science Museum To- kyo 13 (3): 395-442. A oki , J .- I . (1984): New and unrecorded oribatid mites from Kanagawa, Central Japan. – Bulletin of the In- stitute of Environmental Science and Technology, Yokohama National University 11 : 107-118. A oki , J .- I . (1995): Oribatid mites of high altitude forests of Taiwan. II. Mt. Nan-hu-ta Shan. – Special Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Coleopterology 4 : 123-130.