Meganisoptera

Meganeura (Ancient Greek: μέγα (large) + νευρόν (vein or nerve)) is a genus of extinct insects from the Late Carboniferous (approximately 300 million years ago). It is a member of the extinct order Meganisoptera (also known as griffenflies), which are closely related to and resemble dragonflies and damselflies (with dragonflies, damselflies and meganisopterans being part of the broader group Odonatoptera). While various species of Meganeura have been named, only one is now considered valid: the type species, M. monyi.

Meganisoptera is an extinct order of large dragonfly-like insects, informally known as griffenflies or (incorrectly) as giant dragonflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies). They range in Palaeozoic (Late Carboniferous to Late Permian) times. Though most were only slightly larger than modern dragonflies, the order includes the largest known insect species, such as the late Carboniferous Meganeura monyi and the even larger early Permian Meganeuropsis permiana, with win

Meganeuropsis, from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "large", νεῦρον (neûron), meaning "nerve", and ὄψις (ópsis), meaning "appearance", is an extinct genus of griffenfly, order Meganisoptera, known from the Early Permian Wellington Formation of North America, and represents the largest known insect of all time. Meganeuropsis existed during the Artinskian age of the Permian period, 290.1–283.5 mya. The genus includes two described species by Frank Morton Carpenter, fossil insect curator at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University:

Megatypus is an extinct genus of insect of the order Meganisoptera. Species in this genus were much larger than their modern relatives, dragonflies and damselflies, its single wing length is .