''Englathauma'' is an extinct genus of

scorpionfly Mecoptera (from the Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their la ...

. It is the only member of the family Englathaumatidae. It is known from two species, ''E. crabbi'', and ''E. mellisha.'' Both species are known from the

Weald Clay Weald Clay or the Weald Clay Formation is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit underlying areas of South East England, between the North and South Downs, in an area called the Weald Basin. It is the uppermost unit of the Wealden Group of ro ...

of the United Kingdom, dating to the

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is precede ...

stage of the Early Cretaceous. The family had been a '' nomen nudum'' since the death of the lead author of the paper Victor G. Novokshonov, in 2003, until the paper was published in 2016. The well sclerotized wings suggest that they were used as cover to protect the body rather than for flight, similar to the living '' Notiothauma.''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q104858540 Prehistoric insect genera Mecoptera