Odonatoptera

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Odonatoptera
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous - Recent
Meganeurites gracilipes restoration.webp
Reconstruction of Carboniferous odonapteran Meganeurites (Meganeuridae, Meganisoptera)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Division: Palaeoptera
Superorder: Odonatoptera
Lameere, 1900 [1]
Orders

See text

Synonyms

Campylopterodea Rohdendorf, 1962
Odonatoidea Lameere, 1936

Contents

The Odonatoptera are a superorder (sometimes treated as an order) of ancient winged insects, placed in the probably paraphyletic group Palaeoptera. The dragonflies and damselflies (which are placed in the subgroup Odonata) are the only living members of this group, which was far more diverse in the late Paleozoic and contained gigantic species, including the griffinflies (colloquially called "giant dragonflies", although they were not dragonflies in the strict sense) of the order Meganisoptera (formerly Protodonata). This lineage dates back at least to the Bashkirian, not quite 320 million years ago.  [2]

Systematics and taxonomy

There is little consensus about the relationships of the Odonatoptera. What is certain is that they are a clade of winged insects that stands outside the Neoptera. But various authors' analyses have yielded any one of three mutually exclusive phylogenies, or some variant thereof: The least problematic (in a taxonomic sense) view is that the Odonatoptera are the sister taxon of the Ephemeropteroidea (the mayfly lineage), and that the Palaeodictyopteroidea are either their sister taxon or a basal assemblage, all within a monophyletic Palaeoptera. But few recent analyses have supported this. Rather, it seems more and more likely that the Odonatoptera are the sister taxon of the Neoptera, making the "Palaeoptera" paraphyletic. The third view places the mayfly lineage as sister taxon of the neopterans, with the Odonatoptera as most primitive winged insects; it has seen little support in recent decades however. [3] [4]

Phylogeny

Based on the work of Günter Bechly, [5] Nel et al. (2001) [6] and Petrulevičius & Gutierrez (2016). [7]

Odonatoptera
Eugeroptera

Eugeropteridae

Palaeodonatoptera
Kukaloptera

Kirchneralidae

Plesiodonatoptera
Argentinoptera

Argentinalidae

Apodonatoptera
Geroptera

Geropteridae

Neodonataptera

Eomeganisoptera (†Erasipteridae)

Euodonatoptera

Meganisoptera (griffinflies)

Odonatoclada

?†Lapeyriidae

Campylopterodea

Campylopteridae

Nodialata

Protanisoptera

Pandiscoidalia

Triadotypomorpha

Discoidalia

Triadophlebiomorpha

Stigmoptera

Protozygoptera (including Archizygoptera)

Panodonata

In some treatments, the Odonata are expanded to include all these taxa with the exception of the "Erasipteridae", Geroptera and Protodonata; this group is treated as an unranked clade Odonatoclada in the scheme used here. Where the Odonata are defined loosely, the term Odonatoidea is used instead of "Odonatoptera" (see e.g. [2] ).

Cladogram of Odonatoptera including Odonata by Deregnaucourt et al. 2023. [8]

Footnotes

  1. Kluge, N.J. "Odonatoptera". Nomina circumscribentia insectorum. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 Trueman & Rowe (2008).
  3. Maddison (2002).
  4. Trueman (2008).
  5. Bechly, Günter (27 November 2007). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Odonata" . Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  6. Nel, A.; Béthoux, O.; Bechly, G.; Martínez-Delclòs, X.; Papier, F. (2001). "The Permo-Triassic Odonatoptera of the 'protodonate' grade (Insecta: Odonatoptera)". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France . 37 (4): 501–525. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  7. Petrulevičius, Julián F.; Gutierrez, Pedro Raul (2016). "New basal Odonatoptera (Insecta) from the lower Carboniferous (Serpukhovian) of Argentina". Arquivos Entomolóxicos (16): 341–358.
  8. Deregnaucourt, Isabelle; Bardin, Jérémie; Villier, Loïc; Julliard, Romain; Béthoux, Olivier (August 2023). "Disparification and extinction trade-offs shaped the evolution of Permian to Jurassic Odonata". iScience. 26 (8): 107420. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107420. PMC   10424082 . PMID   37583549.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odonata</span> Order of insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies

Odonata is an order of predatory flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. The two major groups are distinguished with dragonflies (Anisoptera) usually being bulkier with large compound eyes together and wings spread up or out at rest, while damselflies are usually more slender with eyes placed apart and wings folded together along body at rest. Adult odonates can land and perch, but rarely walk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragonfly</span> Predatory winged insects

A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterised by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damselfly</span> Suborder of insects

Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along the body when at rest, unlike dragonflies which hold the wings flat and away from the body. Damselflies have existed since the Late Jurassic, and are found on every continent except Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterygota</span> Subclass of insects

The Pterygota are a subclass of insects that includes all winged insects and the orders that are secondarily wingless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holometabola</span> Superorder of insects

Holometabola, also known as Endopterygota, is a supra-ordinal clade of insects within the infraclass Neoptera that go through distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stages. They undergo a radical metamorphosis, with the larval and adult stages differing considerably in their structure and behaviour. This is called holometabolism, or complete metamorphism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exopterygota</span> Superorder of insects

The Exopterygota, also known as Hemimetabola, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infraclass Neoptera, in which the young resemble adults but have externally developing wings. They undergo a modest change between immature and adult, without going through a pupal stage. The nymphs develop gradually into adults through a process of moulting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meganisoptera</span> Extinct order of dragonfly-like animals

Meganisoptera is an extinct order of large dragonfly-like insects, informally known as griffenflies or (incorrectly) as giant dragonflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata. They range in Palaeozoic times. Though most were only slightly larger than modern dragonflies, the order includes the largest known insect species, such as the late Carboniferous Meganeura monyi and the even larger early Permian Meganeuropsis permiana, with wingspans of up to 71 centimetres (28 in).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palaeoptera</span> Taxonomic grouping of winged insects without a certain form of wing-folding

The name Palaeoptera has been traditionally applied to those ancestral groups of winged insects that lacked the ability to fold the wings back over the abdomen as characterizes the Neoptera. The Diaphanopterodea, which are palaeopteran insects, had independently and uniquely evolved a different wing-folding mechanism. Both mayflies and dragonflies lack any of the smell centers in their brain found in Neoptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gomphidae</span> Family of dragonflies

The Gomphidae are a family of dragonflies commonly referred to as clubtails or club-tailed dragonflies. The family contains about 90 genera and 900 species found across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The name refers to the club-like widening of the end of the abdomen. However, this club is usually less pronounced in females and is entirely absent in some species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiprocta</span> Taxonomic suborder of insects

Epiprocta is one of the two extant suborders of the Odonata, which contains living dragonflies (Anisoptera), as well as Epiophlebioptera, which has a single known living genus Epiophlebia. Crown group Epiprocta first appeared during the Early Jurassic. It was proposed in 1992 by Heinrich Lohmann to accommodate the inclusion of the Anisozygoptera. The latter has been shown to be not a natural suborder, but rather a paraphyletic collection of lineages, so it has been combined with the previous suborder Anisoptera, the well-known dragonflies, into the Epiprocta. The old suborder Anisoptera is proposed to become an infraorder within the Epiprocta, whereas the "anisozygopterans" included here form the infraorder Epiophlebioptera. In Lohmann's original circumscription of the Epiprocta he also included the Tarsophlebiidae in it but Rehn (2003) placed it among the Zygoptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coenagrionoidea</span> Superfamily of damselflies

Coenagrionoidea is a superfamily of closed wing damselflies of the order Odonata found worldwide.

<i>Epiophlebia</i> Genus of dragonflies

Epiophlebia is a genus of damsel-dragonfly native to the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. It is the only living genus of Odonata to neither be a dragonfly nor a damselfly. It is the sole member of the family Epiophlebiidae, which is itself the sole living representative of the infraorder Epiophlebioptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libelluloidea</span> Superfamily of dragonflies

Libelluloidea is a superfamily of dragonflies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemiphlebiidae</span> Family of damselflies

Hemiphlebiidae is a family of damselflies. It contains only one extant species, the ancient greenling, native to Southern Australia and Tasmania. The fossil record of the group extends back to the Late Jurassic, making them the oldest known crown group damselflies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thaumatoneuridae</span> Family of damselflies

Thaumatoneuridae is a family of damselflies in the order Odonata. There are at least three genera and about five described species in Thaumatoneuridae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coxoplectoptera</span> Extinct order of insects

Coxoplectoptera or "chimera wings" is an extinct order of stem-group mayflies containing one family, Mickoleitiidae. Together with mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Coxoplectoptera are assigned to the clade Heptabranchia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarsophlebiidae</span> Extinct family of flying insects

The Tarsophlebiidae is an extinct family of medium-sized fossil odonates from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous period of Eurasia. They are either the most basal member of the damsel-dragonfly grade ("anisozygopteres") within the stem group of Anisoptera, or the sister group of all Recent odonates. They are characterized by the basally open discoidal cell in both pairs of wings, very long legs, paddle-shaped male cerci, and a hypertrophied ovipositor in females.

Austrocorduliidae was formerly considered a family of dragonflies occurring in South Africa and Australia. Recent taxonomic revisions have classified the species previously placed in Austrocorduliidae to now be within the superfamily Libelluloidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyneoptera</span> Group of insects

The cohort Polyneoptera is one of the major groups of winged insects, comprising the Orthoptera and all other neopteran insects believed to be more closely related to Orthoptera than to any other insect orders. They were formerly grouped together with the Palaeoptera and Paraneoptera as the Hemimetabola or Exopterygota on the grounds that they have no pupa, the wings gradually developing externally throughout the nymphal stages. Many members of the group have leathery forewings (tegmina) and hindwings with an enlarged anal field (vannus).

Bojophlebia is an extinct genus of winged insect from the Pennsylvanian period of the Czech Republic. It includes only a single species, Bojophlebia prokopi, and is the only member of the family Bojophlebiidae. Bojophlebia prokopi was first described in 1985 by Jarmila Kukalová-Peck, who originally described it as a large mayfly-like insect. This original interpretation has since been rejected. Most recently, B. prokopi has been treated as a member of the infraclass Hydropalaeoptera, which also includes the Odonatoptera and Panephemeroptera. Bojophlebia is considered a sister group of all other members of the Hydropalaeoptera. A fossil that was described as a nymph of Bojophlebia is now considered to be a separate taxon, Carbotriplura kukalovae. The original description interpreted structures such as eyes and antennae, however these structures cannot be confirmed after restudy, although this may be an example of over-interpretation by Kukalová-Peck, as has happened with other extinct insects such as Carbotriplura and Gerarus.

References