570 vanished lives

83Paleozoic

This griffinfly’s wings spanned roughly seventy centimeters above Carboniferous forests.

181Paleozoic

A patterned wing only about two centimeters across pushes the secure record of insect flight into the Early Carboniferous.

182Paleozoic

Beyond four wings packed with netlike veins, the thorax carried a pair of small immobile winglets.

183Paleozoic

Scaling from the surviving giant wing suggests a four-winged span near half a meter, among the largest palaeodictyopterans known.

184Paleozoic

The largest estimates reach a 71-centimeter wingspan, placing it among the biggest flying insects in Earth history.

185Paleozoic

Banded dark patterns remain on its fossil wings, returning color pattern to a Permian insect rather than a blank outline.

186Paleozoic

A wing resembling that of a crane fly was once treated as an early dipteran clue, but its true affinity remains disputed.

390Paleozoic

Broad net-veined wings carried an early aerial predator through oxygen-rich forests.

391Paleozoic

Huge triangular wings and long tail filaments belonged to a giant mayfly relative.

392Paleozoic

Thoracic winglets accompanied four large wings in an extinct flight architecture.

393Paleozoic

A shield-like pronotum and flat wings mark an early cockroach-mantis relative.

394Paleozoic

An enlarged prothorax carried a row of prominent spines.

395Paleozoic

Its wing venation pushes the cockroach-like pattern deep into the Carboniferous.

425Paleozoic

A wingspan near half a meter made it a major aerial predator.

426Paleozoic

Leaf-like thoracic lobes accompanied four functional wings.

482Paleozoic

Smaller than Meganeura but still broad-winged, this griffinfly hunted above coal forests.

483Paleozoic

A long piercing mouthpart and four patterned wings belonged to the vanished palaeodictyopterans.

506Paleozoic

Four broad net-veined wings belonged to the completely vanished palaeodictyopterans.

507Paleozoic

A basal odonatopteran retained a more primitive wing base than modern dragonflies.

508Paleozoic

A wingless body ended in three tail filaments and combined traits of early silverfish-like insects.

509Paleozoic

Spotted wings and fine venation record Permian palaeodictyopteran diversity.

510Paleozoic

Long transparent net-veined wings record an early radiation of large flying insects.

555Paleozoic

Two pairs of net-veined wings could not fold, and some species carried thoracic winglets and piercing mouthparts.