Radstock Giant Dragonfly
In 1912 a fossilized fragment of a
giant dragonfly was found in a piece of shale on the waste-tip
of Tyning Colliery near Radstock. The specimen was sent to Dr
Herbert Bolton a leading authority on fossil insects and at the
time the director of the Bristol
Museum and Art Gallery. At the time Bolton recognised it as
being a Species unknown to science, and also the largest insect
fossil, flying of otherwise, to be found in the British Isles.
He named it Meganeura radstockensis. However, later examination
of the specimen by Anton Handlirsch, a German palaeontologist
revealed that it was different the Meganeura in certain
respects. He then renamed it Boltonites radstockensis in
honor of Dr Bolton.
The Radstock giant dragonfly had a wing
span of 40 cm (16 in), However a related species Meganera monyi
from Commentry in central France had a wing span of 60 cm
(24 in) These giant dragonflies probably lived on smaller insects;
they may have caught them in glades in swampy forests that were
wide spread during carboniferous times.
Herbert Bolton (1863-1936)
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Author: Andre Butler
Last updated: 20th November 2005
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