Fossil reveals an ancient 'Frankenstein' insect

[Judi Lynn]

Fossil reveals an ancient 'Frankenstein' insect
Found in Brazil, it looks as if it is made up of body parts from several species
By Wynne Parry
updated 2 hours 41 minutes ago 2011-07-19T16:14:50

http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com.nyud.net:8090/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/110719-InsectPhoto-hmed-0825a.grid-6x2.jpg

Insect "Frankensteins" have been discovered among fossils from a deposit in Brazil. The prehistoric creatures had the wings and middle-body segments of a dragonfly's, wing veins arranged like a mayfly and a praying mantis' forelegs.

"It is a very strange mix of characteristics that are otherwise only known for the unrelated insect groups," said one of the researchers to discover this new group of insects, Gunter Bechly, a paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany.

From two adult and about 30 larval fossils that came from the Brazilian fossil deposit and are now contained in collections around the world, the researchers created a new order — a broad category that can contain many species — called Coxoplectoptera. This newly named group of insects is long gone; it has no modern descendants, and the fossils date back 120 million years to the early Cretaceous period.

Bechly and fellow discoverer Arnold Staniczek, an entomologist at the museum, realized they had found something special when they came across one of the fossilized adult insects already in the museum's collection while working on a book on the Crato fossil deposit in Brazil from which it came.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43809956/ns/technology_and_science-science/

[al bupp]

1. A K&R for paleotological research in general...

and entomological paleontology research in particular!

[hty7645]

5. +1

[Myrina]

2. This is a way cool discovery!

:applause:

[laconicsax]

3. Should be 'Frankenstein's Monster Insect.'

Frankenstein was the genius who made the monster.

[mike_c]

4. that's less Frankenstein-ish than the author makes it seem....

Dragonflies and mayflies are the only remaining insect orders in the paleoptera-- they're united by having similar, primitive wing articulation and musculature, so the finding that this extinct order shared wing characters from both modern Odonata and Ephemeroptera isn't too surprising. Their relatively closely related anyway, so finding a third extinct order with shared characters isn't too surprising. The "mantis like forelegs" are simply raptorial forelegs adapted for prey seizure-- lots of insects unrelated to mantids have them. It's a common adaptation among predators. Modern dragonflies have a much stranger prey capture mechanism-- they have extensible mouth parts that perform the same function.

In case you're not aware, the pic in the OP is a larva, not the winged adult.