''Mongolbittacus'' is an extinct genus of

hangingfly Bittacidae is a family of scorpionflies commonly called hangingflies or hanging scorpionflies. The genus ''Bittacus'', comprising approximately 75% of all species within the family, occurs worldwide. Other genera are mostly confined to South A ...

in the family Bittacidae and containing a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

species ''Mongolbittacus daohugoensis''. The species is known only from the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...

Jiulongshan Formation The Haifanggou Formation (), also known as the Jiulongshan Formation (), is a fossil-bearing rock deposit located near Daohugou () village of Ningcheng County, in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. The formation consists of coarse Conglomerate (g ...

, part of the Daohugou Beds, near the village of Daohugou in Ningcheng County, northeastern

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 ...

History and classification

''Mongolbittacus daohugoensis'' is known only from one fossil, the holotype, specimen number "NIGPAS 133709". The specimen is composed of an almost complete female specimen which is preserved as a two dimensional compression fossil in a well cemented calcareous grey

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

. The fossil was recovered from outcrops of the Jiulongshan Formation exposed near Daohugou by Di-Ying Huang. The type specimen is currently preserved in the geology collections housed in the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, located in Nanjing,

. ''Mongolbittacus'' was first studied by Julián F. Petrulevicius of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France, Di-Ying Huang of 2Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Dong Ren of Capital Normal University in Beijing. Their 2007

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have ...

of the genus and species was published in the journal '' African Invertebrates''. The generic name was coined by Petrulevicius, Huang and Ren from a combination of "''Mongol''", a reference to the region of discovery; and the modern Bittacidae genus ''

Bittacus ''Bittacus'' is a genus of hangingflies in the order Mecoptera. Members of the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus has existed since at least the earliest Late Cretaceous. ''Bittacus'' is considered "grossly paraphyletic" and serves ...

'' to which ''Mongolbittacus'' is related. The etymology of the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''daohugoensis'' is in reference type locality where the fossil preserved. ''Mongolbittacus daohugoensis'' is one of six genera of fossil Bittacidae to be described from China. Along with ''Mongolbittacus'', ''

Jurahylobittacus ''Jurahylobittacus'' is an extinct genus of hangingfly in the family Bittacidae and containing a single species ''Jurahylobittacus astictus''. The species is known only from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation, part of the Daohugou Beds ...

'' and ''

Formosibittacus ''Formosibittacus'' is an extinct genus of hangingfly in the family Bittacidae and containing a single species ''Formosibittacus macularis''. The species is known only from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation, part of the Daohugou Beds, ...

'' are known from the Jiulongshan Formation, while '' Megabittacus'' and '' Sibirobittacus'' are from the Yixian Formation and '' Liaobittacus'' is from the

Haifanggou Formation The Haifanggou Formation (), also known as the Jiulongshan Formation (), is a fossil-bearing rock deposit located near Daohugou () village of Ningcheng County, in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. The formation consists of coarse conglomerates ...

Description

The holotype specimen is fully complete with only the apical section of one

fore-wing 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 ...

missing, and small sections of the legs obscured. The fore and hind-wings of ''Mongolbittacus'' do not show any signs of color pattering unlike the genus ''Formosibittacus'' alongside which it lived. Also unlike ''Formosibittacus'' the wings of ''M. daohugoensis'' do not have any maculae. The fore-wings are long and the hind-wings are long. Overall the wings of ''Mongolbittacus'' have a narrow base section widening to approximately along most of the length, while the body was in length. ''Mongolbittacus'' is noted as unusual due to the completeness of the specimen. Most fossil Bittacidae are known and described from isolated fragments, most notably single wings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6899573 Hangingflies Middle Jurassic insects Fossil taxa described in 2007 Jurassic insects of Asia