Editing Beetle (section)

===Cretaceous===
The [[Cretaceous]] saw the fragmenting of the southern landmass, with the opening of the southern Atlantic Ocean and the isolation of New Zealand, while South America, Antarctica, and Australia grew more distant.<ref name="insenc186"/> The diversity of Cupedidae and [[Archostemata]] decreased considerably. Predatory ground beetles (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae) began to distribute into different patterns; the [[Carabidae]] predominantly occurred in the warm regions, while the [[Staphylinidae]] and [[click beetle]]s (Elateridae) preferred temperate climates. Likewise, predatory species of [[Cleroidea]] and [[Cucujoidea]] hunted their prey under the bark of trees together with the [[jewel beetle]]s (Buprestidae). The diversity of jewel beetles increased rapidly, as they were the primary consumers of wood,<ref>{{cite journal|title=New Jewel Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from the Cretaceous of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia |journal=Paleontological Journal |year=2009 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=277–281 |url=http://fossilinsects.net/pdfs/Alexeev_2009_PalJ_BuprestidaeCretaceousRussiaKazakhstanMongolia.pdf |doi=10.1134/s0031030109030058 |last1=Alexeev |first1=A. V. |bibcode=2009PalJ...43..277A |s2cid=129618839  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718202416/http://fossilinsects.net/pdfs/Alexeev_2009_PalJ_BuprestidaeCretaceousRussiaKazakhstanMongolia.pdf |archive-date=July 18, 2011 }}</ref> while [[longhorn beetle]]s ([[Cerambycidae]]) were rather rare: their diversity increased only towards the end of the Upper Cretaceous.<ref name="evo"/> The first coprophagous beetles are from the Upper Cretaceous<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chin, K. |author2=Gill, B. D. |title=Dinosaurs, dung beetles, and conifers; participants in a Cretaceous food web |journal=PALAIOS |year=1996 |issue=3 |pages=280–285 |doi=10.2307/3515235 |volume=11|bibcode=1996Palai..11..280C |jstor=3515235 }}</ref> and may have lived on the excrement of herbivorous dinosaurs.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Arillo, Antonio |author2=Ortuño, Vicente M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Did dinosaurs have any relation with dung-beetles? (The origin of coprophagy) |journal=[[Journal of Natural History]] |volume=42 |issue=19&20 |pages=1405–1408 |doi=10.1080/00222930802105130|bibcode=2008JNatH..42.1405A |s2cid=83643794 }}</ref> The first species where both larvae and adults are adapted to an aquatic lifestyle are found. Whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae) were moderately diverse, although other early beetles (e.g. Dytiscidae) were less, with the most widespread being the species of [[Coptoclavidae]], which preyed on aquatic fly larvae.<ref name="evo"/>
A 2020 review of the palaeoecological interpretations of fossil beetles from Cretaceous ambers has suggested that [[saproxylic]]ity was the most common feeding strategy, with [[fungivorous]] species in particular appearing to dominate.<ref name="amber">{{cite journal|author1=David Peris|author2=Jes Rust|title=Cretaceous beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) in amber: the palaeoecology of this most diverse group of insects|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|year=2020|volume=189|issue=4|pages=1085–1104|url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/189/4/1085/5638889|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz118}}</ref>

Many fossil sites worldwide contain beetles from the Cretaceous. Most are in Europe and Asia and belong to the temperate climate zone during the Cretaceous.<ref name="liaoning"/> Lower Cretaceous sites include the Crato fossil beds in the Araripe basin in the [[Ceará]], North Brazil, as well as overlying Santana formation; the latter was near the equator at that time. In Spain, important sites are near [[Montsec]] and [[Las Hoyas]]. In Australia, the Koonwarra fossil beds of the Korumburra group, [[South Gippsland]], Victoria, are noteworthy. Major sites from the Upper Cretaceous include Kzyl-Dzhar in South Kazakhstan and Arkagala in Russia.<ref name="evo"/>