Meganeura

Meganeura is a genus of extinct insects from the Carboniferous period (approximately 300 million years ago), which resembled and are related to the present-day dragonflies. With wingspans ranging from 65 cm (25.6 in) to over 70 cm (27.6 in),[1][2] M. monyi is one of the largest known flying insect species. Meganeura were predatory, and fed on other insects.
Fossils were discovered in the French Stephanian Coal Measures of Commentry in 1880. In 1885, French paleontologist Charles Brongniartdescribed and named the fossil "Meganeura" (large-nerved), which refers to the network of veins on the insect's wings. Another fine fossil specimen was found in 1979 at Bolsover in Derbyshire. The holotype is housed in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.
Category:Animals
Category:Creatures
Category:Meganisoptera
Category:Pennsylvanian insects
Category:Gzhelian life
Category:Carboniferous animals of North America
Category:Paleozoic insects of North America
Category:Fossil insects of North America
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1885
Category:Taxa named by Charles Jules Edmée Brongniart