Auspex Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Thanks.... I got an ID back from the UK specialist that its off a palaeodictyopteroid and after a bit of googling I found they apparently have a unique mouthpart morphology. Their clypeus is much enlarged, and they have a distinctive beak formed by five elongate, stiff elements. They were the first plant feeding insects and preseumably this beak was for sucking sap and had they had palaeopterous wings which means they were unable to fold their wings back over their body when not in flight... The wings just moved up and down so the wings remained perminantly open... Patterning preserved on wings in the form of light and dark bands indicates that at least some palaeodictyopteroids were strikingly coloured with the biggest having over half a metre wingspan...they became extinct in the permian and its thought the demise was due to enviromental changes as well as the marked increase in the dragonfly species which would have found the slow moving palaeodictyopteroids easy prey as well as the replacement of early plants such as progymnosperms with more advanced forms with better protection against herbivores... Now that's a nice piece of paleoecology; thanks for the education! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 The Paleodictyoptera are near and dear to my heart as I discovered a species that was named after me. I love the color patterns on your fossils! Here is some more info on those insects: http://windsofkansas.com/fossil_insects.html and the article naming our discovery: http://psyche.entclub.org/99/99-141.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Auspex... I just learned it all too... Its amazing what a name (once you get one)and a bit of googling can come up with... Xiph... Thanks for the links and congratulations!.... I get the impression this material isnt that common.... theres not a lot out there when your trying to do some research...any reconstructions you have of them or anything else I would be very grateful to see... The UK specialist wants to see my other material... so the storys not over yet Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Wow! I want to hunt for these! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Auspex... I just learned it all too... Its amazing what a name (once you get one)and a bit of googling can come up with... Xiph... Thanks for the links and congratulations!.... I get the impression this material isnt that common.... theres not a lot out there when your trying to do some research...any reconstructions you have of them or anything else I would be very grateful to see... The UK specialist wants to see my other material... so the storys not over yet They are rare. Frank Carpenter of Harvard described the one we found. To check it out, I know he compared it to specimens from England and Illinois. The site we found ours at is now buried under concrete. We had found the Paleodictyoptera, a spider and a primitive horseshoe crab. I'm hoping to explore a nearby exposure in late April. It would be great to find another spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diplotomodon Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Is there an emoticont that shows the little smiley guy being blown to dust? In one word: amazing. What a wonderful menagerie! Who would believe that such as register lay buried in the strata? To open the leaves, to unroll the papyrus, has been an intensely interesting though difficult work, having all the excitement and marvelous development of a romance. And yet the volume is only partly read. Many a new page I fancy will yet be opened. -- Edward Hitchcock, 1858 Formerly known on the forum as Crimsonraptor @Diplotomodon on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 There are sites where one can still find these wonderful ancient insects but they are quite rare. I recently loaned out most of my specimens to Dr Jarmila Kukalova Peck at Carleton University in Canada. Jarmila is one of the leading authorities on these types of insects She is hoping to describe several of them and others have shown features that have not been observed before. I am hoping to get an update before Summer and am already thinking about names. Here is a sneak peek of an undescribed gerarid from Mazon Creek (Pit 4) It is a new genus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Here is a figure that Jarmila drew of the new gerarid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 (edited) Thanks guys... Tom.... You find one every 2 years.. If you go every week... Xiph.... I hope the new spot throws some supprises out... Rob.... Stunning fossils, they really are... and thanks for the reconstruction... Did the insects come from any particular horizons and what were the other fauna within that layer? Edited March 16, 2011 by Terry Dactyll Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks guys... Tom.... You find one every 2 years.. If you go every week... Xiph.... I hope the new spot throws some supprises out... Rob.... Stunning fossils, they really are... and thanks for the reconstruction... Did the insects come from any particular horizons and what were the other fauna within that layer? There is no specific horizon. The fossils were formed in the Francis Creek Shale which lies ontop of the #2 Colchester coal seam. Strip mining activities stopped back in the 1970s and most of these concretions are found eroding out of the shale spoil piles. Today most of the area has been lost to reclamation, overgrowth and land development. Pit Four where this particular insect was collected has been developed into a gated community now known as Shadow Lakes. The fauna of this area is known as the Braidwood Assemblage. Back in the Pennsylvannian Period (310 MYA), this area was near the shores of a shallow sea. The fauna is typical of many other Pennsylvannian deposits consisting of insects, arachnids, myriapods, xiphosura, amphibians and early reptiles. There is also a freshwater component with crustaceans, paleoniscoids, coelacanth's, lungfish and xenacanth sharks. Most of the Braidwood animals are quite rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Rob.... OK Thanks... I thought you collected it whilst it was working... Good luck with the new nodules anyhow.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks guys... Tom.... You find one every 2 years.. If you go every week... You have more than one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 You have more than one? Thomas...Sure... Have a look on page one of the thread... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Steve, Great finds! Nice to find something so rare now and again. This is a great thread, with lots of great information! Thanks for all who contributed to it - especially X-man and RC Fossils! Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) There is some info on the superorder Palaeodictyopterida in "Evolution of Insects" by Grimaldi and Engel (2005: pages 168-173), including a great photo of another Dunbaria specimen. That section of the chapter noted that half the known Paleozoic insects belong to that group. It gives us another perspective on the mass extinction(s) at the end of the Permian - so bad an entire (and previously successful) superorder of insects was killed off. The Paleodictyoptera are near and dear to my heart as I discovered a species that was named after me. I love the color patterns on your fossils! Here is some more info on those insects: http://windsofkansas.com/fossil_insects.html and the article naming our discovery: http://psyche.entclub.org/99/99-141.html Edited March 18, 2011 by siteseer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Tim... Thanks... Siteseer...Thanks for the information... I sent the other wings off... Any good news I will let you know... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trend Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Wonderful specimens displayed. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbler716 Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Those are amazing. I found something very similar in Alabama. Having it checked out by experts soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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