Capital Normal University
"Sinomeganeura huangheensis" is known only from one fossil, the holotype, specimen number "CNU-NX200". It is a single, mostly complete fore-wing, preserved as a compression fossil in fine grained sedimentary rock. The fossil specimen is from exposures of the Tupo Formation in the Qilianshan Mountains. Insect fossils from this formation, referred to as part of the "Qilianshan biota", are the first Namurian insects found in the far east and are the oldest insects known from China. The type specimen is currently preserved in the Key Lab of Insect Evolution &amp; Environmental Changes collections housed in the Capital Normal University, located in Beijing, China. "Sinomeganeura" was first studied by Dong Ren of Capital Normal University, André Nel of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France and Jakub Prokop of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Their 2008 type description of the genus and species was published in the journal "Insect Systematic Evolution". The generic name was coined by Prokop, Nel, and Ren from a combination of the Latin "sino" meaning China and the name of the related genus "Meganeura". The etymology of the specific epithet "huangheensis" is a reference to the Yellow River which flows next to the type locality outcrop.