Saurophthirus

Saurophthirus; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Siphonaptera
Genus:	Saurophthirus; Ponomarenko, 1976
Type species
	Saurophthirus longipes; Ponomarenko, 1976

Saurophthirus is an extinct genus of fleas that represents a transition between primitive stem fleas, and modern species. The type species, S. longipes is found in early Cretaceous strata of Baissa, Siberia. The second species, S. exquisitus, is from the ^[1] Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation.

Description

Average length of specimens are 2.50 cm (1 in) long and is hypothesized to have sucked the blood of pterosaurs in the Cretaceous, in the way that bat fleas feed on bat blood today.

References

^ Gao, Taiping, et al. "New Transitional Fleas from China Highlighting Diversity of Early Cretaceous Ectoparasitic Insects." Current Biology 23.13 (2013): 1261-1266.

[1]

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[Gao-1] Gao, Taiping, et al. "New Transitional Fleas from China Highlighting Diversity of Early Cretaceous Ectoparasitic Insects." Current Biology 23.13 (2013): 1261-1266.

[1]