''Eophyllium'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed 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 "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of the

Phasmatodea 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 ...

, a type of insect ancestral to the modern Phylliidae. 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 ...

, 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 preserved ...

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 ei ...

. 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 their heads.

References

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