Tarsophlebiidae

Tarsophlebiidae
Temporal range: 163–121 Ma Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous
Tarsophlebia eximia, Upper Jurassic, Solnhofen Plattenkalk
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Tarsophlebioptera
Family: Tarsophlebiidae
Handlirsch, 1906
Type genus
Tarsophlebia
Hagen, 1866
Genera
  • Tarsophlebia (synonym: Tarsophlebiopsis)
  • Turanophlebia

The Tarsophlebiidae is an extinct family of medium-sized fossil odonates from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous period of Eurasia. They are either the most basal member of the damsel-dragonfly grade ("anisozygopteres") within the stem group of Anisoptera, or the sister group of all Recent odonates. They are characterized by the basally open discoidal cell in both pairs of wings, very long legs, paddle-shaped male cerci, and a hypertrophied ovipositor in females.[1]

  1. ^ Fleck G, Bechly G, Martínez-Delclòs X, Jarzembowski E, Nel A (2004). "A revision of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous dragonfly family Tarsophlebiidae, with a discussion on the phylogenetic positions of the Tarsophlebiidae and Sieblosiidae (Insecta, Odonatoptera, Panodonata)" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 26 (1): 33–60.