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Meganeura
Biological information
Time period : Late Carboniferous period
Lifestyle : Carnivore
In the series
Brought back : One Male
Appearances : "The Bug House"

Meganeura (name meaning "Large nerved"), also called the "Giant Dragonfly", is a genus of giant griffinfly insect that lived in Europe during the Carboniferous Period.

Portrayal in the series[]

To be added...

In the series[]

"The Bug House"[]

Meganeura with Nigel Marven

Nigel holding a Meganeura

Meganeura was first seen flying past Nigel when Nigel climbed up a tree. He climbs down to follow the creature. Then, while we see some griffinflies flying over a pond, Nigel sees his chance. He tried to catch at least one by the means of a huge butterfly net. But a net large enough to catch a dragonfly with a wingspan the size of an eagle's wingspan is clumsy and Nigel failed to hold the net, let alone catch a Meganerua. Then, something bit Nigel, so he moved to the shore.

Later, on a second try, he tried a 8 foot water and detergent gun. After many failed tries, he finally sprays one and catches it with the butterfly net. He then spotted the creature that bit him, so he gave the Meganeura to his crewmate while he went to catch the Crassigyrinus. Later, Nigel grabbed the griffinfly out of a transportion cage to show the cameraman what makes the animal different from modern dragonflies: some grabsing claws on it's tail. He put the male Meganerua back in the cage.

Later at the Bughouse, Bob checks on the new giant bugs. The Pulmonoscorpius and the Meganeura are doing well and so was the Arthropleura. The griffinfly flies over the other bugs and we can see a dome to keep him in the bughouse.

Errors[]

  • Despite being depicted as a dragonfly, Meganeura was not actually a dragonfly, but a griffinfly, a dragonfly-like insect which is also incorrectly referred to as a giant dragonfly.
  • Despite what many think, the Meganeura in the show is not actually Meganeura. The body and especially the tail are based on Namurotypus, a close relative of Meganeura, while the head is based on a poorly preserved specimen of Erasipteroides, all of which are genuses of griffinflies. The wings, however, seem to be that of Meganeura, thus making the show's Meganeura a hybrid of all three genera.
Reconstruction-of-a-Namurotypus-male-drawing-by-G-Bechly-based-on-a-drawing-of-W

Namurotypus reference. Note how its tail is identical to the tail of the show's Meganeura.