Rhyniognatha
| Rhyniognatha | |
|---|---|
| |
| Specimen of Rhyniognatha | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Genus: | †Rhyniognatha Tillyard, 1928 |
| Species: | †R. hirsti
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Rhyniognatha hirsti Tillyard , 1928 | |
Rhyniognatha is an extinct genus of arthropod of disputed placement. It has been considered in some analyses as the oldest insect known, as well as possibly being a flying insect.[1] Rhyniognatha is known from a partial head with preserved mouthparts from the Early Devonian aged Rhynie chert around 400 million years ago, when Earth’s first terrestrial ecosystems were being formed. The type, and only species is R. hirsti, which was named and described in 1928.[2] Other analyses have interpreted the specimen as a myriapod.
Evidence
The head part of a specimen, preserved in a fragment of
scutigeromorph centipede, was better supported by the available evidence, without being able to exclude an insect identity completely.[6]
References
- ^ The University of Aberdeen Image of type specimen (University of Aberdeen)
- ^ a b R. J. Tillyard. 1928. Some remarks on the Devonian fossil insects from the Rhynie chert beds, Old Red Sandstone. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 76:65-71
- ISSN 1469-5081.
- ^ Andrew Ross. "The oldest fossil insect in the world". Natural History Museum.
- S2CID 4431205.
- PMID 28584727.