Dinokanaga
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Dinokanaga Temporal range: Ypresian |
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| Dinokanaga andersoni holotype | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Mecoptera |
| Family: | †Dinopanorpidae |
| Genus: |
†Dinokanaga Archibald, 2005 |
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Dinokanaga is a small genus of scorpionfly belonging to the extinct family Dinopanorpidae. The six species D. andersoni, D. dowsonae, D. hillsi, D. sternbergi, D. webbi, and D. wilsoni have all been recovered from Eocene fossil sites in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington state, USA.
Dinokanaga is a combination of the Greek word deino meaning "terrible" or "monstrous" and okanaga in reference to the Okanagan highlands fossil sites where the specimens have been recovered. The type description of the genus was first published in 2005 by Dr. Bruce Archibald in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. Description of the new genus was based on the study of over 20 compression fossil specimens from five fossil producing locations in the highlands. Dinokanaga and Dinopanorpa, currently the only known genera in the family Dinopanorpidae, are distinguished by a number of wing vein characters including lack of fine reticulated crossveins in Dinopanorpa, and the "Rs" vein branched 3-5 times in Dinokanaga. The fossil specimens of high preservation quality sometimes show the original color patterning, being mostly dark with light to clear areas. Within the genus wing characters are key to separating the species.
Dinokanaga hillsi, the type species, is identified by its subtriangular shaped wing which is widest at the middle, color pattern of three distinct dots, and an apical wing margin which is smoothly curved.D. hillsi along with D. dowsonae are the only two species in which part of the insects body is known, rather than just isolated wings. Though known from a number of specimens D. hillsi has only been found at the McAbee Fossil Beds near Cache Creek, British Columbia, and is named for Dr. Len Hills.
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