Permocoleus wellingtonensis, new genus and new species, is based on an elytron from the Permian Wellington Formation of Oklahoma and is the only Paleozoic record of the order Coleoptera from North America and the oldest record for the New World. Until now, Permian Coleoptera were known only from Europe, Australia, southern Africa, and South America but were conspicuously absent from North America, despite the Wellington Formation being among the most diverse deposits of Permian insects. Permocoleus provides evidence that early beetles were globally distributed.