Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
388 / Mesozoic
Mesopsyche
Mesopsyche dobrokhotovae
A long siphon accessed sugary secretions before flowers evolved.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 235–201 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Triassic
- Geographic range
- Gymnosperm woodland · Central Asia
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Mesopsyche?
Mesopsyche (Mesopsyche dobrokhotovae) was an extinct organism known from About 235–201 million years ago, with a range in Gymnosperm woodland · Central Asia.
Life and ecology
It may have transferred pollen among seed-plant reproductive organs while feeding.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Mesopsyche disappear?
The end-Triassic crisis and plant turnover are possible context; the record of this species does not establish its cause of disappearance.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Mesopsyche?
Compression fossils preserve the proboscis, four wings and associated pollen.
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