Mazothairos
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| Mazothairos Temporal range:
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| Mazothairos as reconstructed by Dmitry Bogdanov | |
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| Genus: | †Mazothairos Kukalová-Peck & Richardson, 1983
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| Species: | †M. enormis Kukalová-Peck & Richardson, 1983
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| Binomial name | |
| †Mazothairos enormis Kukalová-Peck & Richardson, 1983
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Mazothairos is an extinct genus of very large insect from the Carboniferous period. It was a member of the order Palaeodictyoptera and had a wingspan of about 55 centimeters (22 in), making it one of the largest-known insects.[1] It was characterized by its distinctive beak-like mouthparts which featured elongated sharp piercing stylets and possibly a sucking pump-like organ that it used to pierce plant tissues to drink their juices. Unlike those of modern sucking insects, its mouthparts were held vertically below its head.[2] It is also known for the pair of winglets on its prothorax in front of its first pair of wings, which give it the epithet of "six-winged insect".[3][4][5][6]
Mazothairos' holotype fossil was found in the Mazon Creek fossil beds in modern day Illinois, a lägerstatte formed aproximately 309 million years ago during the Pennsylvanian epoch of the Carboniferous period.[1] The formation had a tropical climate and is believed to have been part of a river delta system. The formation also preserved fossils of many other organisms, such as those of Illinois' state fossil Tullimonstrum.
References
- ^ a b Kukalová-Peck, J.; Richardson, E. S. (1983). "New Homoiopteridae (Insecta: Paleodictyoptera) with wing articulation from Upper Carboniferous strata of Mazon Creek, Illinois". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 61: 1670–1687. doi:10.1139/z83-218.
- ^ Doell, H.V; Doyen, J.T; Purcell, A.H (1998). Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 321. ISBN 0-19-510033-6.
- ^ Harald, Parzer (22 October 2018). "Enriching Undergraduate Entomology Coursework through the Integration of Evolutionary Developmental Biology". The American Biology Teacher. 80: 561–569. doi:10.1525/abt.2018.80.8.561.
- ^ Tomoyasu, Yoshinori; Wheeler, Scott R.; Denell, Robin E. (February 2005). "Ultrabithorax is required for membranous wing identity in the beetle Tribolium castaneum". Nature. 433: 643–647. doi:10.1038/nature03272.
- ^ Elias-Neto, Moysés; Belles, Xavier (3 August 2016). "Tergal and pleural structures contribute to the formation of ectopic prothoracic wings in cockroaches". Royal Society Open Science. 3. doi:10.1098/rsos.160347.
- ^ Tomoyasu, Yoshinori (January 2018). "Evo-Devo: The Double Identity of Insect Wings". Current Biology. 28. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.004.
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