''Permotipula'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
protodiptera
Protodiptera is an extinct suborder of mecoptera
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. Mecopteran ...
n
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
which contains a single species ''Permotipula patricia''. The only specimen of ''Permotipula'' was found in
Late Permian
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
strata of the Newcastle Coal Measures
[Jell, Peter A. (2004]
"The fossil insects of Australia"
''Memoirs of the Queensland Museum'' 50(1): pp. 1–124, page 2 between the towns of
Belmont and
Warners Bay
Warners Bay is a suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, and is located from Newcastle's central business district on the eastern side of Lake Macquarie. It was named after Jonathan Warner, who settled the area.
...
on the eastern side of
Lake Macquarie
The City of Lake Macquarie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and named by
Robert J. Tillyard in 1929.
The specimen consisting of a single well preserved wing, was considered lost after the death of Tillyard in 1937. The loss of the specimen and the mention by Tillyard of a second insect fossil from the same site, later described as ''
Robinjohnia tillyardi'' resulted in much confusion regarding the taxonomic affiliations of ''P. patricia''.
''Robinjohnia'', a four winged insect which is now placed in the order
Mecoptera
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 lar ...
. The ''P. patricia'' type specimen was found in the Tillyard collection which is housed at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
and reexamined by R. Willmann in a 1989 paper.
A second species, ''
P. borealis'' was named by O.M. Martynova in 1961 from a small wing specimen found in the Kuznetsk Basin,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. This species was moved, however, in 1989 by R. Willmann to the monotypic genus ''
Permila
''Permila borealis'' is an extinct insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part ...
'' and is now considered a probable early mecopteran.
References
†
Prehistoric insect genera
Permian insects
Fossil taxa described in 1929
Prehistoric arthropods of Oceania
Taxa named by Robert John Tillyard
Protodiptera
{{permian-insect-stub