Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
385 / Mesozoic
Manipulator
Manipulator modificaputis
A long neck and grasping forelegs converged on the mantis body plan.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 99 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Tree trunks and understory · Myanmar
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Manipulator?
Manipulator (Manipulator modificaputis) was an extinct organism known from About 99 million years ago, with a range in Tree trunks and understory · Myanmar.
Life and ecology
This cockroach relative probably stalked small insects on bark.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Manipulator disappear?
Predatory dictyopterans turned over during the Cretaceous, but this does not establish why the lineage disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Manipulator?
Amber preserves the head, prothorax, legs and wings and shows it was not a true mantis.
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