One famous dragonfly fossil from the Jurassic limestone of Germany is 200 million years old. Every wing vein is recorded with astonishing fidelity. The pattern matches in almost every detail the drawing of a dragonfly wing in the current Peterson Field Guide to the Insects. Some of these ancient flyers had wingspans exceeding two feet. Dinosaurs came and went, pterodactyls flourished and disappeared, thousands of species of mammals evolved and became extinct.
Dragonflies go on and on, the Energizer bunnies of evolution.
Sit by the summer pond and watch them. You might as well be in a time warp. Glance up and see Triceratops grazing nearby. Or thundering Tyrannosaurus rex. Entomologists separate the order Odonata into dragonflies and the more delicate damselflies, but for most summer pond watchers, and in popular parlance, they are all the same.