''Eophyllium'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of the

Phasmatodea The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an Order (biology), order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred ...

, a type of insect ancestral to the modern

Phylliidae The family Phylliidae (often misspelled Phyllidae) contains the Extant taxon, extant true leaf insects or walking leaves, which include some of the most remarkably camouflaged leaf mimicry, mimics (mimesis) in the entire animal kingdom. They occu ...

. These insects mimic the shape of leaves for

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

, with a single species, ''Eophyllium messelensis''.

Description

A full body

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

of ''E. messelensis'' was recovered from a 47-million-year-old fossil lake bed in Germany. The 60 mm long fossil has a body highly similar in shape to fossil leaves recovered from the same

stratum In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ...

. The genitalia of the fossil are nearly identical to those of modern leaf insects, indicating the species has changed little over the millennia. One area in which ''E. messelensis'' differs from modern genera is in its front legs, which do not have flattened, leaf-like projections that modern leaf insects use to

disguise A disguise can be anything incognito which conceals one's identity or changes a person's physical appearance, including a wig, glasses, makeup, fake moustache, costume or other items. Camouflage is a type of disguise for people, animals and o ...

their heads.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q989976 Phylliidae Fossil taxa described in 2007 Eocene insects of Europe Phasmatodea genera Monotypic prehistoric insect genera