Fossil insects of Chile, including arachnids and myriapods: a systematic literature review and checklist

Fossil insects have been a key tool for understanding the phylogeny and evolutionary history of life. However, many regions of the world still exhibit significant gaps in the knowledge of insect fossils, with South America being particularly underrepresented. The absence of a systematic understanding of the fossil record—encompassing diversity pools, types of fossil evidence, geological ages, and taxonomic identity—can lead to the undervaluation of this heritage and, in severe cases, to the material loss of specimens. This study aims to provide a systematic compilation of studies on Chilean fossil insects and a fossil checklist. A broad literature review was conducted, including scientific articles, books, theses, and conference papers, using keywords related to Chilean fossil insects. We included data of species identity, fossil type, stratigraphic context, age calibrations, and locality information. The resulting dataset comprised 91 works, including 64 primary and 27 secondary sources. We registered records from Quaternary, Neogene, Paleogene, Cretaceous, Jurassic and Carboniferous periods. The Quaternary period had the most extensive coverage in terms of fossil records. A total of 725 nominal records (taxon and ichnotaxon names) of arthropod fossils were recorded, with Coleoptera the most diverse group. Additionally, 17 records of Araneae and one putative record for Myriapoda classes were registered. Finally, we critically evaluated the sources of information to confirm or dismiss some doubtful records, provide an overview of the current state of knowledge, and suggest considerations for the future development of this discipline in Chile. Future studies should consider new methodological approaches, validate the records through thorough phylogenetic and nomenclatural analyses, properly characterize the type of material and its compliance with current nomenclatural rules, and finally, provide an accessible repository to ensure the replicability of the studies.