Delitzschala
| Delitzschala Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | †Palaeodictyoptera |
| Family: | †Spilapteridae |
| Genus: | †Delitzschala Brauckmann et Schneider, 1996[1] |
| Species: | †D. bitterfeldensis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Delitzschala bitterfeldensis Brauckmann et Schneider, 1996
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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.
References
- ^ 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. doi:10.1127/njgpm/1996/1996/17.
- Dragonhunters V. Medland (2007) Econotes at the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity
External links
- Delitzschala at The Paleobiology Database
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