Chresmoda obscura

Chresmoda obscura is an extinct species of insects within the family Chresmodidae.

Chresmoda obscura
Temporal range: 150.8–145.5 Ma [1]
Fossil specimen of Chresmoda obscura from Germany, on display at Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée in Paris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Subclass:
Pterygota
Infraclass:
Neoptera
Superorder:
Polyneoptera
Order:
Archaeorthoptera
Family:
Chresmodidae
Genus:
Chresmoda
Species:
C. obscura
Binomial name
Chresmoda obscura
Germar 1839
Synonyms
  • Halometra gigantea Oppenheim 1888
  • Halometra minor Oppenheim 1888
  • Propygolampis bronni Weyenbergh 1874
  • Pygolampis gigantea Germar 1849
  • Sternarthron zitteli Haase 1891

Description

Chresmoda obscura are large enigmatic insects with very long specialized legs, probably adapted for skating on the water surface. They can reach a size of about 14 centimetres (5.5 in).[2]

These Polyneoptera of uncertain positi on have been considered aquatic and terrestrial bug or phasmids. They should instead be anomalous paraplecopterids living on the water surface, probably predaceous on nektonic small animals.[3]

They lived during the Jurassic of Germany, from 150.8 to 145.5 Ma.[1]

References
  1. The Paleobiology Database
  2. Solnhofen Fossilien Atlas
  3. A. G. Ponomarenko Fossil insects from the Tithonian «Solnhofener Plattenkalke» in the Museum of Natural History, Vienna


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