''Steleopteron cretacicus'' (lat.) is a species of extinct winged damselfly from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

family

Steleopteridae Steleopteridae is a family of extinct winged damselflies whose fossils have been found in modern Germany, Great Britain and Kazakhstan, and which lived at the end of the Jurassic and the beginning of the Cretaceous (166.1–130.0 million years ...

that lived in modern Britain during the Early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

era (136.4–130 million years ago). It is the first member of the

family, to be found living during the

period, to be described, and belongs to the genus

Steleopteron ''Steleopteon'' is a genus of extinct winged damselflies whose fossils have been found in modern Germany, and Great Britain, and which lived at the end of the Jurassic and the beginning of the Cretaceous (150.8 to 130 million years ago). The ...

. There is a sister taxon – ''

Steleopteron deichmuelleri ''Steleopteron deichmuelleri'' is a species of extinct winged damselfly in the family Steleopteridae, which lived in modern Germany during the Upper Jurassic era (150.8-145 million years ago). The holotype 1903.V3 1985/4, which is a dissociated ...

''. The discovery of the species showed that the family Steleopteridae had not died out by the Cretaceous period. These damselflies were fast insectivorous predators. The species name refers to the fact that the species existed in the Cretaceous period.

Holotype

The holotype, NHMUK CH 879vii, a fossilized wing, was found n lagoonal sediments in the Weald formation (136.4 – 130.0 Ma) in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, United Kingdom. In 2018, Daran Zheng, A. Nel, and Edmund A. Jarzembowski described the species. The specimen is stored in the Department of Earth Sciences,

Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

London, UK. The

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...

of the holotype is 2 mm in length and 0.5 mm in width.

References

Cretaceous insects Damselflies of Europe {{damselfly-stub