Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
384 / Mesozoic
Aptenoperissus
Aptenoperissus burmanicus
Wingless females combined a wasp waist with enlarged jumping hind legs.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 99 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Forest litter · Myanmar
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Aptenoperissus?
Aptenoperissus (Aptenoperissus burmanicus) was an extinct organism known from About 99 million years ago, with a range in Forest litter · Myanmar.
Life and ecology
They may have searched the ground for insect eggs or larvae to parasitize.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Aptenoperissus disappear?
Parasitoid wasps turned over during the Cretaceous, but this does not establish why this unusual family disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Aptenoperissus?
Several amber females preserve the wingless thorax and legs; males remain poorly known.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS