Elephantomyia bozenae

Elephantomyia bozenae Temporal range: Middle Eocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
E. (E.) bozenae holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Limoniidae
Genus:	Elephantomyia
Species:	†E. bozenae
Binomial name
Elephantomyia bozenae Kania, 2015

Elephantomyia (Elephantomyia) bozenae is an extinct species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. The species is solely known from the Middle EoceneBaltic amber deposits in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. The species is one of six described from Baltic amber.

Elephantomyia (Elephantomyia) bozenae is known only from the holotype specimen, collection number MP/3338, which is preserved as an inclusion in transparent Baltic amber. As of 2015, the amber specimen was included in the collections of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Baltic amber is recovered from fossil bearing rocks in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. Estimates of the age date between 37 million years old, for the youngest sediments and 48 million years old. This age range straddles the middle Eocene, ranging from near the beginning of the Lutetian to the beginning of the Pribonian. E. bozenae is one of six crane fly species in the genus Elephantomyia described from the Baltic amber, the others being E. baltica, E. brevipalpa, E. irinae, E. longirostris, and E. pulchella. All six species are placed into the Elephantomyia subgenus Elephantomyia based on the lack of tibial spurs and by several aspects of the wing morphology.

The type specimen was first studied by paleoentomologist Iwona Kania, of the University of Rzeszów, who's 2015 type description for the species was published in the journal PLoS ONE. The specific epithet bozenae was coined to honor the biologist Bożena Szala.