Live reconstruction of Cretophasmomima melanogramma - journal

''Cretophasmomima'' is an extinct genus of stem group-

stick insect The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as ...

from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

and is one of the oldest and most basal stick insects known, it belongs to the

Susumanioidea Susumanioidea is an extinct superfamily of Phasmatodea, known from the Middle Jurassic to Eocene. They lie outside the modern crown group of Phasmatodea. Members of the group typically possess large, fully developed wings. Taxonomy According to ...

. The type species, ''Cretophasmomima vitimica'', was described in 1985 from the

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

aged Zaza Formation in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. A second species, ''Cretophasmomima burjatica'' was described from the same formation in 1988.A. V. Gorochov. 1988. O klassifikatsii iskopaemykh pryamokrylykh nadsemeystva Phasmomimoidea (Orthoptera) s opisannem novykh taksonov. ''Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta AN SSSR'' 178:32-44 A third and fourth species, ''Cretophasmomima clara'' and ''Cretophasmomima arkagalica'' were also described in 1988 in the same paper from the Ola Formation and the Arkagalinskaya Formation respectively, both formations are Lower Campanian in age. A fifth species ''Cretophasmomima melanogramma'' was described in 2014 off the basis of three specimens from the Aptian Yixian Formation in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 2020 a sixth species ''Cretophasmomima traceyae'' was described based on a

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwin ...

with preserved colouration from the

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is preceded ...

aged

Weald Clay Formation Weald Clay or the Weald Clay Formation is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit underlying areas of South East England, between the North and South Downs, in an area called the Weald Basin. It is the uppermost unit of the Wealden Group of ro ...

in England.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20177101 Fossil taxa described in 2014 Phasmatodea Prehistoric insect genera Phasmatodea genera