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EOPHYLLIUM
(e-oh-fil-le-um)
meaning: "Dawn phyllium"
Named By: S. Wedmann, S. Bradler & J. Rust in 2007
Time Period: Eocene
Location: Germany - Messel Formation
Size: Body length about 6 centimetres long (not including antenna)
Diet: Herbivore
Fossil(s): Single almost complete specimen preserved flat in dorsal profile. Tips of legs, antennae and wings missing
Classification: | Arthropoda | Insecta | Phasmatodea | Phyllioidea | Phylliidae |
About

Eophyllium is an extinct monotypic genus of the Phasmatodea, a type of insect ancestral to the modern Phylliidae. These insects mimic the shape of leaves for camouflage, with a single species, Eophyllium messelensis.

A full body fossil of E. messelensis was recovered from a 47-million-year-old fossil lake bed in Germany. The 6-cm-long fossil has a body identical in shape to fossil leaves recovered from the same stratum.

The genitalia of the fossil are nearly identical to those of modern leaf insects, indicating the species has changed little over the millennia. One area in which E. messelensis differs from its modern descendants is in its front legs, which do not have flattened, leaf-like projections that modern leaf insects use to cover their heads.

Read more about Eophyllium at Wikipedia
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