Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Order Incertae sedis | Class Insecta Rank Family | |
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Genus Pseudopulex
Tai-ping Gao, Chung-kun Shih, Xing Xu, Shuo Wan, Dong Ren, 2012 Similar Coxoplectoptera, Titanoptera, Diaphanopterodea, Monura, Rhyniognatha | ||
Pseudopulex is a genus of extinct, flea-like, parasitic insects that once fed on dinosaurs.
The two species, Pseudopulex jurassicus and Pseudopulex magnus, are similar to modern fleas, but their bodies were more compressed, and they had longer claws which they used to hold on tightly to dinosaurs or pterosaurs. They were also 10 times as large as modern fleas and possessed serrated stylets, likely for feeding on blood through thick layers of skin.
Discovery
Fossils of Pseudopulex jurassicus are known from the middle Jurassic-aged Jiulongshan Formation, 165 million years old. Fossils of Pseudopulex magnus are from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, 125 million years old.
References
Pseudopulex Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA