3 ms·
Some discussion of this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganisoptera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganisoptera * There was at least one giant dragonfly-
by card_zero 2y ago
Some discussion of this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganisoptera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganisoptera
* There was at least one giant dragonfly-thing alive at a time when oxygen levels weren't all that elevated.
* Maybe they could kind of sort of breathe! By expanding their tracheal tubes.
* Subsequently they began to be predated by birds and mammals. Prior to that they may have been locked into a race (against their prey) to be the biggest, like that giant Italian goose and its giant barn owl predators: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garganornis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garganornis
- adrian_b 2y agoAs mentioned on that Wikipedia page, that big dragonfly-like insect from the upper Permian was already only slightly more than half the size of its ancestors from the lower Permian, which could have been caused by the lower oxygen content in the air. The fact that it was still much larger than current insects is most likely explained by the fact that there were no flying vertebrates that could compete with it or hunt it.