Fossils of giant fleas

Researchers have recently published in the journal Nature that the fleas of Jurassic and Cretaceous era were very large in size.

Researchers worked on the two sites in China that is Jurassic deposits in Daohugou that is about 165 million years old and Cretaceous strata at Huangbanjigou that is 125 million years old and studied nine flea specimens. They have found that the size of those primitive fleas was 8-21 mm as compared to 1-10 mm of modern fleas. They had no jumping specializations.

From Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology,

These Mesozoic fleas are of great body sizes, approximately15 mm in length, and some longer than 20 mm. As the extant fleas, the ancient females are larger than males. For example, a flea species from Daohougou is 14 mm for female and only 8 mm for male. They are wingless insects, but more or less dorso-ventrally flattened, their antennae are short and compact with more antennal segments (16-19 segments) than extant ones (11 segments); they have a very long piercing siphonate mouthparts, elongate legs armed with various ctenidia, but its hind legs are not jumping type as in Recent fleas, abdomen covered numerous posteriorly-directed setae; male genitalia large and exposed.

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Via:

Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology