Misplaced Pages

Diaphanopterodea

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Extinct order of insects

Diaphanopterodea
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous to Late Permian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Prochoroptera calopteryx
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Superorder: †Palaeodictyopteroidea
Order: †Diaphanopterodea
Handlirsch, 1919
Families

The Diaphanopterodea or Paramegasecoptera are an extinct order of moderate to large-sized Palaeozoic insects. They are first known from the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian in age), and include some of the earliest known flying insects.

Overview

Despite their very early appearance in the insect fossil record, they represent a specialised group of Palaeodictyopteroidea (Palaeozoic beaked insects), unique among representatives of that group in having evolved the ability to fold their wings over their thorax and abdomen in a manner similar to, but not homologous with, the Neopteran insects. The nymphs also had an unusual appearance, being covered in numerous hairlike filaments.

Diaphanopterodea are distinguished by a number of other characteristics, and are generally considered to be a monophyletic group. About ten families are known. The group died out at the end of the Permian period, victims of the End-Permian mass-extinction, without leaving any descendants.

References

  1. Hoell, H.V.; Doyen, J.T. & Purcell, A.H. (1998). Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 322. ISBN 0-19-510033-6.

External links

Insect orders
Extant
Monocondylia
D
i
c
o
n
d
y
l
i
a
P
t
e
r
y
g
o
t
a
Palaeoptera
Ephemeropteroidea
Odonatoptera
N
e
o
p
t
e
r
a
Polyneoptera
Notoptera
(Xenonomia)
Dictyoptera
E
u
m
e
t
a
b
o
l
a
Paraneoptera *
H
o
l
o
m
e
t
a
b
o
l
a
Neuropteroidea
Coleopterida
Neuropterida
Panorpida
(Mecopterida)
Antliophora
Amphiesmenoptera
  • Four most speciose orders are marked in bold
  • Italic are paraphyletic groups
  • Based on Sasaki et al. (2013)
Extinct
Taxon identifiers
Diaphanopterodea
Stub icon

This prehistoric insect-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Stub icon

This article related to a Carboniferous animal is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories:
Diaphanopterodea Add topic