Cretophasmomima melanogramma was described as a stem-Phasmatodea insect on the basis of one female and two male Yixian specimens with diagnostic operculum and wing characters.
claim:taxon:cretophasmomima:taxonomyCretophasmomima melanogramma
One female and two male Yixian specimens preserve a wing shoulder pad and female abdominal operculum used to identify a stem-Phasmatodea insect, with dark wing venation interpreted as a possible leaf-mimicry signal.
Represented range130–122 Ma
Content packagecrustaceans-insects
PBDBtxn:290093
Evidence boundary
Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.
Claim ledger
The profiled Cretophasmomima material is from the Yixian Formation of the Jehol biota in Inner Mongolia, China; this records the sampled locality rather than a complete species distribution.
claim:taxon:cretophasmomima:biogeographyDark longitudinal wing veins were interpreted as possible leaf mimicry associated with a contemporaneous plant organ; the described specimens measure approximately 47–56 mm, suggesting a plant-associated crypsis context without directly observing diet or behaviour.
claim:taxon:cretophasmomima:ecologyCretophasmomima melanogramma preserves a female abdominal operculum, a forewing shoulder pad and dark longitudinal veins that diagnose the described stem-stick-insect morphology.
claim:taxon:cretophasmomima:morphologyThe displayed 130–122 Ma window converts the Yixian Formation age of approximately 126 ± 4 Ma for the three specimens; it is not a global species range or Phasmatodea origin date.
claim:taxon:cretophasmomima:fossil-rangeKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
References
- Under cover at pre-angiosperm times: A cloaked phasmatodean insect from the Early Cretaceous Jehol biotaWang, M.; Béthoux, O.; Bradler, S.; Jacques, F.M.B.; Cui, Y.; Ren, D. · 2014 · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0091290
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933