Protorthoptera

Protorthoptera
Temporal range: 318–299 Ma Middle Carboniferous
Hadentomum americanum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Cohort: Polyneoptera
Order: †Protorthoptera
Handlirsch, 1906
Families

See text

Synonyms
  • Cacurgida
  • Paraplecoptera
  • Protoblattodea
  • Protoblattoidea

The Protorthoptera are an extinct order of Palaeozoic insects, and represent a wastebasket taxon and paraphyletic assemblage of basal neoptera[citation needed]. They appear during the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian), making them among the earliest known winged insects in the fossil record. Pronotal lobes may be expanded to form a shield. The group includes the ancestors of all other polyneopterous insects.