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192 / Mesozoic
Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite
Pseudopulex jurassicus
About 17 millimeters long and unable to jump, it carried serrated piercing mouthparts far larger than those of modern fleas.
Structured expansion · editorial review pending
- Time range
- About 165 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Jurassic
- Geographic range
- Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China
01 / ANSWER FIRST
What was Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite?
This archive records Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite under the scientific name Pseudopulex jurassicus, with an age of About 165 million years ago and a range of Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China. About 17 millimeters long and unable to jump, it carried serrated piercing mouthparts far larger than those of modern fleas.
Pseudopulex was a wingless, dorsoventrally flattened flea-like ectoparasite. Strong claws gripped a host and long stylets may have pierced feathered dinosaurs, pterosaurs or mammaliaforms, but the actual host remains unknown.
02 / QUICK FACTS
Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite at a glance
- Scientific name
- Pseudopulex jurassicus
- Age
- About 165 million years ago
- Last recorded stage
- Middle Jurassic
- Known range
- Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China
- Broad group
- insect
- Archive era
- Mesozoic
- Habitat signals
- Freshwater · Forest
- Documented regions
- Asia
03 / ANATOMY
How was Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite built?
Overall body plan
About 17 millimeters long and unable to jump, it carried serrated piercing mouthparts far larger than those of modern fleas.
Exoskeleton and segmentation
The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.
Wings and sensory structures
Pseudopulex was a wingless, dorsoventrally flattened flea-like ectoparasite. Strong claws gripped a host and long stylets may have pierced feathered dinosaurs, pterosaurs or mammaliaforms, but the actual host remains unknown.
Growth and individual variation
A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite.
04 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
How did Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite live?
Pseudopulex was a wingless, dorsoventrally flattened flea-like ectoparasite. Strong claws gripped a host and long stylets may have pierced feathered dinosaurs, pterosaurs or mammaliaforms, but the actual host remains unknown. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.
05 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
What shaped its ecological limits?
Its populations depended on vegetation, freshwater margins and atmospheric conditions. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.
06 / RANGE & HABITAT
Where and when did Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite live?
This archive currently lists About 165 million years ago; Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.
Documented geographic range
Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.
Time window
About 165 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as Middle Jurassic. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.
Environmental setting
The archive uses the broad habitat labels Freshwater · Forest. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.
07 / FOSSIL EVIDENCE
What evidence supports reconstructions of Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite?
Primary record
Complete Daohugou impressions preserve antennae, claws, abdominal sensilla and serrated stylets. These support ectoparasitism, while host identity is indirect.
Comparative anatomy
Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.
Age and locality
Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite within About 165 million years ago and Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.
Open entity records
Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.
08 / DISAPPEARANCE & DEBATE
Why did Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite disappear?
As hosts and Mesozoic ectoparasite communities changed, this large heavy design gave way to other solutions, including smaller jumping fleas.
The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.
09 / FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite FAQ
What was Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite?
This archive records Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite under the scientific name Pseudopulex jurassicus, with an age of About 165 million years ago. About 17 millimeters long and unable to jump, it carried serrated piercing mouthparts far larger than those of modern fleas.
When did Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite live?
The current archive range is About 165 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is Middle Jurassic.
Where was Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite found?
The archive currently lists Lakeside forest and feathered-vertebrate habitat · Inner Mongolia, China. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.
How do scientists know about Jurassic Flea-like Ectoparasite?
Complete Daohugou impressions preserve antennae, claws, abdominal sensilla and serrated stylets. These support ectoparasitism, while host identity is indirect.
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?
- Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
- Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS