Strashilidae is an extinct family of Jurassic flies from Siberia and China. They were originally believed to represent a distinct order called Nakridletia,[1] but subsequent research determined that they were nematoceran flies related to the extant family Nymphomyiidae,[2] and two of the species (and genera) in the group were determined to be synonyms.[2] The family now comprises two species in the genus Strashila and one in the genus Vosila.[2] The original hypothesis was that the insects were wingless and were probably ectoparasites of pterosaurs,[1] mostly due to their enlarged hind legs, which were theorised as useful for grasping hair and feathers;[3] however, additional fossils showed that both sexes had deciduous wings, and that only males had enlarged hind legs, used to grasp the females during mating, and were not parasitic, instead having an aquatic or amphibious life history, as evidenced by the adults retaining of gills, with ephemeral adults that died soon after mating,[2]
| Strashilidae Temporal range: Middle Jurassic – Upper Jurassic
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| Family: | †Strashilidae Rasnitsyn, 1992
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See also
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References
edit- ^ a b Peter Vršanský; Dong Ren & Chungkun Shih (2010). "Nakridletia ord.n. – enigmatic insect parasites support sociality and endothermy of pterosaurs". AMBA Projekty. 8 (1): 1–16.
- ^ a b c d D. Huang; A. Nel; C. Cai; Q. Lin & M. S. Engel (2013). "Amphibious flies and paedomorphism in the Jurassic period". Nature. 495 (7439): 94–97. Bibcode:2013Natur.495...94H. doi:10.1038/nature11898. PMID 23426262. S2CID 2418781.
- ^ Bressen, David (March 1, 2012). "What Bugged the Dinosaurs?". History of Geology (blog). Scientific American. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
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