Ginkgoales are a gymnosperm order containing only one extant species: Ginkgo biloba, the ginkgo tree. The order has a long fossil record extending back to the Early Permian around 300 million years ago from fossils found worldwide.
The Phasmatodea are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as Devil's darning needles, although this name is shared by both dragonflies and crane flies. They can be generally referred to as phasmatodeans, phasmids, or ghost insects, with phasmids in the family Phylliidae called leaf insects, leaf-bugs, walking leaves, or bug leaves. The group's name is derived from the Ancient Greek φάσμα phasma, meaning an apparition or phantom, referring to their resemblance to vegetation while in fact being animals. Their natural camouflage makes them difficult for predators to detect; still, many species have one of several secondary lines of defense in the form of startle displays, spines or toxic secretions. Stick insects from the genera Phryganistria, Ctenomorpha, and Phobaeticus include the world's longest insects.
The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous subfamilies are recognized, but the precise taxonomy and systematics are likely to change with ongoing research.
In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds. For this reason, folivorous animals tend to have long digestive tracts and slow metabolisms. Many enlist the help of symbiotic bacteria to release the nutrients in their diet. Additionally, as has been observed in folivorous primates, they exhibit a strong preference for immature leaves which tend to be easier to masticate, are higher in energy and protein, and lower in fibre and poisons than more mature fibrous leaves.
Roridula is a genus of evergreen, insect-trapping shrubs, with two species, of about 1⅓–2 m. It is the only genus in the family Roridulaceae. It has thin, woody, shyly branching, upright, initially brown, later grey stems, with lance- to awl-shaped leaves crowded at their tips. The star-symmetrical flowers consist from the outside in of five, green or reddish, free sepals, alternating with five white, pink or purple, free petals. Further to the middle and opposite the sepals are five stamens with the anthers initially kinked down. These suddenly flip up if the nectar-containing swelling at its base is being touched. The center of the flower is occupied by a superior ovary. The leaves and sepals carry many sticky tentacles of different sizes, that trap insects. Roridula does not break down the insect proteins, but bugs of the genus Pameridea prey on the trapped insects. These later deposit their feces on the leaves, which take up nutrients from the droppings. The species can be found in the Western Cape province of South Africa. They are commonly known as dewstick or fly bush in English and vlieëbos or vlieëbossie in Afrikaans.
The family Phylliidae contains the extant true leaf insects or walking leaves, which include some of the most remarkably camouflaged leaf mimics (mimesis) in the entire animal kingdom. They occur from South Asia through Southeast Asia to Australia. Earlier sources treat Phylliidae as a much larger taxon, containing genera in what are presently considered to be several different families.
Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella.
Myanmymar is an extinct genus of fairyfly preserved in Burmese amber from Myanmar. It has only one species, Myanmymar aresconoides. It is dated to the earliest part of the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 99 million years old. As of 2011, it is the oldest known fossil mymarid.
Acer browni is an extinct maple species in the family Sapindaceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves and samaras. The species is known from the early to middle Miocene sediments exposed in Western Oregon, Washington state, USA and Northern Graham Island, Haida Gwaii, Canada. It is one of several extinct species placed in the living section Parviflora.
Acer smileyi is an extinct maple species in the family Sapindaceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves and samaras. The species is known from the late Oligocene to middle Miocene sediments exposed in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon, USA. It is one of several extinct species placed in the living section Parviflora.
Cycadeoidea is an extinct genus of bennettitalean plants known from the Cretaceous of North America, Europe and Asia. They grew as cycad-like plants with a short trunk topped with a crown of leaves.
Orontium wolfei is an extinct golden-club species in the family Araceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves. The species is known from Eocene sediments exposed in the state of Washington in the United States of America and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It is one of several extinct species placed in the living golden-club genus Orontium.
Orontium mackii is an extinct golden club species in the family Araceae described from a series of isolated fossil leaves. The species is known from Late Cretaceous sediments exposed in the state of New Mexico in the United States of America. It is one of several extinct species placed in the living golden-club genus Orontium.
Hymenaea mexicana is an extinct legume species in the family Fabaceae described from a series of isolated fossil petals, leaflets, and amber. The species is known from a group of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene locations in southern Mexico. It is one of two extinct Hymenaea species placed close to the living species Hymenaea verrucosa and along with Hymenaea allendis, is one of the two extinct species which have been found in Mexican amber.
Juracimbrophlebia is an extinct genus of hangingflies that lived during the Middle Jurassic Period about 165 million years ago, containing only its type species, Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia; it was discovered in deposits from Daohugou in northeastern China’s Inner Mongolia.
Acer kenaicum is an extinct maple species in the family Sapindaceae described from a pair of fossil leaves and a samara. The species is known solely from the Oligocene sediments found exposed in central coastal Alaska, US. It is one of several extinct species belonging to the living section Rubra.
Acer chaneyi is an extinct maple species in the family Sapindaceae described from a number of fossil leaves and samaras. The species is known from Oligocene to Miocene sediments exposed in Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington in the U.S. It is one of several extinct species belonging to the living section Rubra.
Aneuretellus is an extinct genus of ant in the formicid subfamily Aneuretinae, and is one of eight genera of the subfamily. The genus contains a single described species Aneuretellus deformis and is known from one Middle Eocene fossil which was found in Sakhalin in the Russian Far East.
Betula leopoldae is an extinct species of birch in the family Betulaceae. The species is known from fossil leaves, catkins, and inflorescences found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States, and similar aged formations in British Columbia, Canada. The species is placed as basal in Betula, either as a stem group species, or an early divergent species.
Alnus parvifolia was an extinct species of flowering plant in the family Betulaceae related to the modern birches. The species is known from fossil leaves and possible fruits found in early Eocene sites of northern Washington state, United States, and central British Columbia, Canada.
