| Eophyllium Temporal range: Eocene |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Phasmatodea |
| Superfamily: | Phyllioidea |
| Family: | Phylliidae |
| Genus: | †Eophyllium Wedmann et al, 2007 |
| Species: | E. messelensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Eophyllium messelensis Wedmann et al, 2007 |
|
Eophyllium is an extinct monotypic genus of Phasmatodea, a type of insect that is ancestral to the modern Phylliidae. These insects mimic the shape of leaves for camouflage, with a single species Eophyllium messelensis.[1]
A full body fossil of E. messelensis was recovered from a 47 million year old fossil lakebed in Germany. The 6 centimeter (2.4 in) long fossil has a body that is identical in shape to fossil leaves recovered from the same strata.
The genitalia of the fossil are nearly identical to those of modern leaf insects, indicating that the species has changed little over the millennia. One area in which E. messelensis differs from its modern descendents is in its front legs which don't have flattened, leaf-like projections that modern leaf insects use to cover their heads.