''Meganeuropsis'' is an extinct genus of

griffinfly Meganisoptera is an extinct order of very large to gigantic insects, informally called griffinflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata ( damselfli ...

, order

Meganisoptera Meganisoptera is an extinct order of very large to gigantic insects, informally called griffinflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata (damselflies ...

, known from the

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawan ...

Wellington Formation of North America, and represents the largest known insect of all time. ''Meganeuropsis'' existed during the Artinskian age of the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleo ...

period, 290.1–283.5 mya. The genus includes two described species by Frank Morton Carpenter, fossil insect curator at the

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

at Harvard University: ''Meganeuropsis permiana'' described in 1939 from Elmo, Kansas. It was one of the largest known

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s that ever lived, with a reconstructed wing length of , an estimated

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

of up to , and a body length from head to tail of almost . The holotype is held in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. ''Meganeuropsis americana'', discovered in Noble, Oklahoma in 1940, is most probably a junior synonym of ''Meganeuropsis permiana''. It is represented by a forewing fragment long. The complete reconstructed wing had an estimated total length of , making it the largest insect wing ever found (with a resulting wing span of ). The holotype is held in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

References

Meganisoptera Permian animals of North America Permian insects Artinskian Cisuralian life Paleontology in Kansas Paleontology in Oklahoma Fossil taxa described in 1939 {{permian-insect-stub

See also

References