Meganisoptera

Meganisoptera is an extinct order of large dragonfly-like insects, informally known as griffenflies, griffinflies, or (incorrectly) as giant dragonflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata. They range in Palaeozoic times. Though most were only slightly larger than modern dragonflies, the order includes the largest known insect species, such as the late Carboniferous Meganeura monyi and the even larger early Permian Meganeuropsis permiana, with wingspans of up to 71 centimetres (28 in).

Meganisoptera

André Nel, Jakub Prokop, Martina Pecharová, Michael S. Engel & Romain Garrouste · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
griffinflyPBDB
Sits inside
NeodonatopteraPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Arthropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Insecta

Time the record covers

At least 55 million years on record.

The record covers at least 320 Mya to 264.28 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 323.4 Mya to 259.857 Mya.

Carboniferous — about 43 of 97 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 54 of 97 occurrencesPermian325–322 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences322–320 Mya — about 2 occurrences320–318 Mya — about 2 occurrences318–316 Mya — about 3 occurrences316–314 Mya — about 3 occurrences314–311 Mya — about 3 occurrences311–309 Mya — about 5 occurrences309–307 Mya — about 11 occurrences307–305 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences305–303 Mya — about 3 occurrences303–300 Mya — about 7 occurrences300–298 Mya — about 4 occurrences298–296 Mya — about 1 occurrence296–294 Mya — about 1 occurrence294–292 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences292–289 Mya — about 3 occurrences289–287 Mya — about 10 occurrences287–285 Mya — about 10 occurrences285–283 Mya — about 8 occurrences283–281 Mya — about 4 occurrences281–278 Mya — about 4 occurrences278–276 Mya — about 4 occurrences276–274 Mya — about 3 occurrences274–272 Mya — about 1 occurrence272–270 Mya — about 1 occurrence270–267 Mya — about 1 occurrence267–265 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences265–263 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences263–261 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences261–259 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences320 Mya264.28 Mya325 Mya259 Mya

97 occurrences of Meganisoptera on record, most of them in the Permian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

97 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

26 formations

Wellington — 38.64°N, 97.21°WWellington — 36.33°N, 97.28°WSalagou — 43.64°N, 3.26°ESalagou — 43.63°N, 3.20°ECommentry Shales — 46.29°N, 2.75°ECarbondale — 41.33°N, 88.37°WCarbondale — 41.22°N, 88.21°WCarbondale — 41.29°N, 88.19°WYanghugou — 37.44°N, 105.04°EIva-Gora Beds — 65.55°N, 43.67°ESolikamsk — 60.30°N, 56.49°ELlewellyn — 41.36°N, 75.79°WLlewellyn — 40.73°N, 76.17°WHermit Shale — 36.07°N, 112.13°WKladno — 49.85°N, 13.61°EKoshelevka — 57.03°N, 57.72°EDeep Hard — 53.23°N, 1.29°WBrooch — 52.66°N, 2.17°WWettiner — 51.63°N, 11.95°EWalden Sandstone — 34.86°N, 85.43°WAllegheny — 41.79°N, 71.36°WFlöz Dreibänke — 52.32°N, 8.01°ELetovice — 49.46°N, 16.60°EIl'inskaya — 54.10°N, 86.93°EOttweiler Stufe — 51.58°N, 11.80°EPottsville — 33.49°N, 87.50°WRadstock — 51.30°N, 2.44°WCians — 44.03°N, 6.98°EShanxi — 37.83°N, 112.40°E

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The named rock units Meganisoptera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 10 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Meganisoptera and its relatives

Permian

Where Meganisoptera and its relatives were recorded in the Permian.

Found in the same rock

1,090 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 62 sites for Meganisoptera, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

46 references

Each of the 97 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 34 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Meganisoptera

Credit
André Nel, Jakub Prokop, Martina Pecharová, Michael S. Engel & Romain Garrouste
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Meganisoptera was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itNeodonatoptera through timeFormations of the PermianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Martynov 1932