Priabona is known from a
compression-impression fossil preserved in fine
shale of the
Florissant Formation in Colorado. Further refinement of the formation's age using radiometric dating of
sanidine crystals has resulted in an age of 34 million years, which places the formation in the Late Eocene
Priabonian stage. At the time of description the
holotype specimen, number 3976 was deposited in the
Museum of Comparative Zoology paleontology collections at
Harvard University. Placement of the group has changed several times, with
Nepherocerus Metanephrocerus Priabona and
Protonephrocerus being placed in the pipunculid subfamily
Nephrocerinae from 1948 until 2014. The placement of the tribe Protonephrocerini, containing
Metanephrocerus and
Protonephrocerus, was challenged in 2014 by Kehlmaier, Dierick and Skevington who suggested inclusion of the genera made Nephrocerinae
paraphyletic. As such they elevated the tribe Protonephrocerini to the subfamily rank as Protonephrocerinae, leaving only
Nephrocerus and
Priabona in Nephrocerinae. The species was originally placed into the genus
Protonephrocerus by
Frank M. Carpenter and F.M. Hull with their type description in 1939. The species was moved in 2014, based on a redescription of the type specimen, to the new genus
Priabona. The generic epithet "Priabona" is taken from
Priabonian, the age of the Florissant Formation. == Description ==