The Sky rulers! Largest insect ever lived in prehistoric time "Meganeuropsis"
Do you know that "Giant dragonflies" lived before the "Huge Dinosaur Era"? These Giant dragonflies were the rulers of the sky. These ancient predators were also known as Meganeuropsis or Griffin fly. Well, these ancient insects are already extinct as they lived during the Carboniferous period which lasted from about 359 to 299 million years ago. So now let's know more about these creatures
Largest insect ever lived in prehistoric time - Meganeuropsis
How did these insects get such large sizes?
About Meganeuropsis
As you know these animals were carnivores. So, there were several characteristics of Meganeuopsis and its fellow griffin flies that indicated a highly predaceous lifestyle. There was a pair mandible with teeth that could tackle large, struggling prey. Additionally, its front limbs had a lot of spins.
Insects like these were living near water bodies, like streams and ponds. As they were carnivores, they mainly consumed insects and small amphibians and vertebrates using their long spine-covered legs to grab and hold their prey.
Fossils Of Meganeuropsis
France was the first country to discover Meganeura in 1880. Charles Brongniart, French paleontologists described and named the fossil in 1885. Several fine fossils specimens were discovered at Bolsover in Derbyshire later in 1979.
How do these species go extinct?
At the end of the Permian Era, Meganeuropsis died out from a mass extinction that killed off over 90 percent of life on Earth. With this extinction, the high oxygen levels were gone, and insects would never reach their size.
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