Delitzschala

Delitzschala is an extinct palaeodictyopteran, the oldest known to science. It was discovered by two German entomologists in 1996. Delitzschala had a wingspan of just 2½ cm (1 in) and an irregular pattern of coloured spots on its wings. Although it was 320 million years old, these spots were still visible in the fossil. It is presumed that they camouflaged the animal, since dragonflies are unable to fold their wings.

Delitzschala
Temporal range: Early Carboniferous
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
†Palaeodictyoptera
Superfamily:
†Spilapteroidea
Family:
†Spilapteridae
Genus:
†Delitzschala

Brauckmann et Schneider, 1996[1]
Species:
†D. bitterfeldensis
Binomial name
†Delitzschala bitterfeldensis
Brauckmann et Schneider, 1996

References
  1. Brauckmann, Carsten; Schneider, Joerg (1996). "Ein unter-karbonisches Insekt aus dem Raum Bitterfeld/Delitzsch (Pterygota, Arnsbergium, Deutschland)" [A Lower Carboniferous insect from the Bitterfeld/Delitzsch area (Pterygota, Arnsbergian, Germany)]. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte (in German). 1996 (1): 17–30.
  • Dragonhunters V. Medland (2007) Econotes at the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity


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