''Gigatitan'' is an extinct genus of

titanoptera Titanoptera is an extinct order of neopteran insects from late Carboniferous to Triassic periods. Titanopterans were very large in comparison with modern insects, some having wingspans of up to or even . Description Titanopterans are related ...

n insect that lived in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

during the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

period. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

is ''G. vulgaris'', described by Aleksandr Grigorevich Sharov in 1968. Fossils of ''Gigatitan'' have been found in the

Madygen Formation The Madygen Formation ( Russian: Madygen Svita) is a Late Triassic (Carnian) geologic formation and Lagerstätte in the Batken and Osh Regions of western Kyrgyzstan, with minor outcrops in neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The conglomerates, ...

. It is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

of the family Gigatitanidae, in which the closely related '' Nanotitan'' and '' Ootitan'' are also included.

Description

''Gigatitan'' was a large insect, type species, ''G. vulgaris'' is estimated to have wingspan up to . Although it had large wings, which hindwing area is close to modern large

orthopteran Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

''Pseudophyllanax imperialis'', body volume is estimated to be around 150% heavier than that species, suggesting ''Gigatitan'' was not able to fly, but probably able to glide. In life, ''Gigatitan'' was a

mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

-like predator, with forelegs that have similarly enlarged and bore spines for prey capture. It had dark, transverse stripes on its wings, which is similar to modern diurnal mantis ''Blepharopsis mendica''. Also, its wings were able to produce flashes which works only during day, and possibly it can substantially reduce

predation Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

from predators. These characters suggesting that ''Gigatian'' is diurnal predator. As seen in other titanopteran insects, there are prominent fluted regions on the forewings, suggesting that may used for

stridulation Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mech ...

, but unlike modern

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 8 ...

katydids Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...

, both males and females of ''Gigatitan'' had wings for stridulation. The ovipositor of ''Gigatitan'' bore sharp cutting ridges. These were likely used to excise holes in plant matter for oviposition, similar to some modern Orthoptera.

References

Insects described in 1968 Triassic insects Triassic animals of Asia Carnian genera Fossils of Kyrgyzstan Madygen Formation Fossil taxa described in 1968 Orthopterida {{triassic-insect-stub