dragonflies

["James R. Cunningham" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

Hey folks, this forwarded message isn't directly related to dinos, but
is related to the oxygen levels and atmospheric densities we've been
talking about.

Do any of you know where he can find solid information on the really big
dragonflies?

Thanks,

Jim


>>Say, do any of you guys have access to paleontological databases? If
any of you do, I'd
  like to get the skinny on these extinct odonate genera:

  Meganeuropsis, Meganeura, Meganeurula, Megatypus

  Specifically, I'd like to know the nature of the primary data;
Meganeuropsis permiana is
  usually cited as the big boy, with spans variously listed 70, 72 and
75 cm. Unfortunately,
  the fossils themselves are described as "fragmentary," and I'd like to
know HOW
  fragmentary they are and just how softly extrapolated these spans are.
So far it looks pretty
  discouraging.

  As the name implies, Meganeurula is probably a baby big boy.

  If you stumble onto any "new finds" of the "Mega-" variety in the
suborder of Protoodonata, I'd sure like to hear about it.

  The following genera also might be worth a look:
  Camptotaxineura, Ditaxineura, Progoneura, Kennedya, Oligotypus, Tupus,

  Arctotypus, Petrotypus, Ephemerites, Boltonites, Erasipterella,
Paralogopsis, Solutotherates <<