Meganeura


Meganeura is a genus of extinct insects from the Carboniferous period, which resembled and are related to the present-day dragonflies. With wingspans ranging from to over, M. monyi is one of the largest-known flying insect species. Meganeura were predatory, with their diet mainly consisting of other insects.
Fossils were discovered in the French Stephanian Coal Measures of Commentry in 1880. In 1885, French paleontologist Charles Brongniart described and named the fossil "Meganeura", which refers to the network of veins on the insect's wings. Another fine fossil specimen was found in 1979 at Bolsover in Derbyshire. The holotype is housed in the National Museum of Natural History, in Paris.

Size

There has been some controversy as to how insects of the Carboniferous period were able to grow so large.