Avion locality
AgeSerpukhovian - Moscovian
PeriodCarboniferous
NamedforAvion, Pas-de-Calais
RegionPas-de-Calais
CountryFrance

The Avion locality is a carboniferous lagerstätte in France. This lagerstätte is located in a coal slag-heap outside the town of Avion in the region of Pas-de-Calais. Unfortunately, as this slag heap is closed and no new fossils are able to be obtained outside of the paleobiota previously identified. In addition, the coal where the scraps are obtained has not been assigned to any formation.[1]

Paleobiota identified

Arthropods

Arthropods
GenusSpeciesHigher taxonNotesImages
ArchaeogerarusA. schubneliArchaeogeraridae (Archaeorthoptera)Placed in a monotypic family[2]
AviobiellaA. garrousteiPermobiellidae (Caloneurodea)[3]
AviobreyeriaA. gracilisBreyeriidae (Palaeodictyoptera)Discovered alongside indeterminate immature breyeriids[4]
AviocladusA. pectinatusCnemidolestodea (Archaeorthoptera)Indeterminate family, as finer cnemidolestodean relationships are unclear[5]
AviogrammaA. gracilisCaloneurodeaIndeterminate family[5]
AviohapalopteraA. bethouxiArchaeorthopteraDifferent from all other archaeorthopteran families[5]
AviologusA. duquesneiArchaeorthopteraSimilar to Heterologus[6]
AvionblattinopsisA. oudardiBlattinopsidae (Paoliida)First blattinopsid known from Avion[7]
AvionbrodiaA. incompletaDiaphanopterodea?[8]
AvionpaoliaA. amansfossilaPaoliidaSpecies name translates to “those who love fossils”, recognising the efforts of people who collected fossils from Avion[1]
AvionpteraA. communeauiFatjanopteridae (Plecoptera)Related to the formerly enigmatic genus Fatjanoptera[9]
AvionugonioneuraA. jouaultiNugonioneuridae? (Archaeorthoptera)Most similar to nugonioneurids, but still differs somewhat from them[10]
AvionxixiaA. guiCnemidolestidae (Archaeorthoptera)Similar to the Chinese genus Xixia[2]
AviorrhynchaA. magnificaAviorrhynchidae (Hemiptera)Earliest known hemipteran[11]
AvioxyelaA. gallicaStem-Hymenoptera (Hymenopterida)Earliest known hymenopteran relative[11]
BeloattaB. duquesneiEoblattidae (Polyneoptera)[12]
CacurgusC. avionensisCacurgidae (Archaeorthoptera)Discovery led to Cacurgidae being moved closer to Orthoptera[13]
CarbonaturaC. oudardiCarbonaturidae (stem group Auchenorrhyncha)[14]
CarbopsyllidiumC. minutumPermopsyllidiidae (Hemiptera)[14]
EnigmapteraE. magnificaPaneodonatoptera (Odonatoptera)One of numerous convergently damselfly-like odonatopterans[15]
FusiogrammaF. minutaCaloneurodea (Archaeorthoptera)A relatively small archaeorthopteran[1]
GallotupusG. oudardiMeganeuridaeOne of the first insects described from Avion[16]
GulouG. oudardiPlecopteraShares a genus with a fossil from the Yanghugou Formation[9]
Homoiopteridae indet.UnapplicablePaleodictyopteraKnown from a base of a ~20 cm-long wing[5]
JacquesoudardiaJ. magnificaProtozygopteraBears convergently damselfly-like wings[5]
PaoliaP. spPaoliidaKnown from a fragmentary wing[5]
PiesbergopterumP. avionensisCnemidolestodea (Archaeorthoptera)Also known from Piesburg quarry as its name suggests[17]
SpilapteraS. splendensSpilapteridaeNamed after the fossil’s exquisite preservation[5]
TheiatitanT. azariTitanopteraEarliest known titanopteran, may have communicated via wing-produced light flashes or crepitation (crackling sounds produced from wingbeats in some orthopterans)[18]
WestphalomeropeW. maryvonneaeProtomeropidae (Panorpida)Earliest holometabolan insect discovered (when it was described)[19]
WestphalopsocusW. pumilioWestphalopsocidae (Psocodea)Earliest known psocodean[11]
WestphalothripidesW. oudardiWestphalothripidesidae (Stem-Thysanoptera)Earliest known thrips[20]

References

  1. ^ Boderau, Mathieu; Roques, Patrick; Nel, André (2024). "New paleopteran and polyneopteran insects from the Carboniferous of Northern France". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 69. doi:10.4202/app.01189.2024
  2. ^ Nel, André & Roques, Patrick (2021). "A new family and two new genera from Avion, Northern France, confirm the Moscovian, late Carboniferous diversity of the insect superorder Archaeorthoptera". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66 (4): 879-884. doi:10.4202/app.00940.2021
  3. ^ Nel, André & Roques, Patrick (31 August 2021). "The second Caloneurodea from the Moscovian of Avion, France (Insecta, Archaeorthoptera)". Palaeoentomology. 4 (4). doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.4.4.5
  4. ^ Prokop, Jakub; Tippeltová, Zuzana; Roques, Patrick; Nel, André (2013). "A new genus and species of Breyeriidae and wings of immature stages from the Upper Carboniferous, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France (Insecta: Palaeodictyoptera)". Insect Systematics & Evolution. 44 (2): 117–128. doi:10.1163/1876312X-44032098
  5. ^ Prokop, Jakub; Roques, Patrick; Nel, André (3 April 2014). "New non-holometabolous insects from the Pennsylvanian of the Avion locality in Pas-de-Calais, France (Insecta: ‘Exopterygota’)". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 38 (2): 155–169. doi:10.1080/03115518.2014.848620
  6. ^ Coty, David; HáVa, Jiří; Prokop, Jakub; Roques, Patrick (29 October 2014). "New archaeorthopteran insects from the Late Carboniferous of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais basins in northern France (Insecta: Cnemidolestodea, Panorthoptera)". Zootaxa. 3878 (5). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3878.5.4
  7. ^ Quispe, Laura; Roques, Patrick; Garrouste, Romain; Nel, André (4 March 2022). "Carboniferous Blattinopsidae: revision of Klebsiella and new genus and species from Avion (Insecta, Paoliida)". Historical Biology. 34 (3): 383–389. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1916817
  8. ^ Schubnel, Thomas; Roques, Patrick; Oudard, Jacques; Garrouste, Romain; Nel, André (26 February 2020). "A new paleopteran genus and species from the late Carboniferous of Avion France, (Insecta: Palaeodictyopterida: ?Diaphanopterodea)". Palaeoentomology. 3 (1): 032–035. doi:10.11646/PALAEOENTOMOLOGY.3.1.3
  9. ^ Schubnel, Thomas; Perdu, Lubin; Roques, Patrick; Garrouste, Romain; Nel, André (3 July 2019). "Two new stem-stoneflies discovered in the Pennsylvanian Avion locality, Pas-de-Calais, France (Insecta: ‘Exopterygota’)". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 43 (3): 430–435. doi:10.1080/03115518.2019.1569159
  10. ^ Nel, André & Roques, Patrick (2 September 2022). "A new strange Archaeorthoptera from the Moscovian of Avion (France) (Insecta, Polyneoptera)". Historical Biology. 34 (9): 1769–1771. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1978082
  11. ^ Nel, André; Roques, Patrick; Nel, Patricia; Prokin, Alexander A.; Bourgoin, Thierry; Prokop, Jakub; Szwedo, Jacek; Azar, Dany; Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure; Wappler, Torsten; Garrouste, Romain; Coty, David; Huang, Diying; Engel, Michael S.; Kirejtshuk, Alexander G. (14 November 2013). "The earliest known holometabolous insects". Nature. 503 (7475): 257–261. doi:10.1038/nature12629
  12. ^ Nel, André; Garrouste, Romain; Roques, Patrick (21 December 2020). "The first representative of the archaeorthopteran family Eoblattidae in the Konservat Lagerstätte of Avion, France (Insecta: Polyneoptera)". Palaeoentomology. 3 (6): 552–555. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.3.6.3
  13. ^ Schubnel, Thomas; Roberts, Dawn; Roques, Patrick; Garrouste, Romain; Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure; Nel, André (18 March 2020). "Moscovian fossils shed light on the enigmatic polyneopteran families Cacurgidae and Eoblattidae (Insecta: ‘Eoblattida’, Archaeorthoptera)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (6): 499–511. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1627595
  14. ^ Boderau, M.; Schubnel, T.; Fu, Y.; Mottequin, B.; Robin, N.; Roques, P.; Kundura, J.-P.; Garrouste, R.; Nel, A. (2026). "Carboniferous fossils enlighten the systematics and evolution of Hemiptera". Papers in Palaeontology. 12 (2). doi:10.1002/spp2.70073
  15. ^ Nel, André; Roques, Patrick; Prokop, Jakub; Garrouste, Romain (3 April 2019). "A new, extraordinary ‘damselfly-like’ Odonatoptera from the Pennsylvanian of the Avion locality in Pas-de-Calais, France (Insecta: ‘Exopterygota’)". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 43 (2): 241–245. doi:10.1080/03115518.2018.1489561
  16. ^ Roques, Patrick; Garrouste, Romain; Nel, Andre (2008). "A new griffenfly genus from the Late Carboniferous of northern France (Odonatoptera: Meganeuridae)". Insect Systematics & Evolution. 39 (2): 231–239. doi:10.1163/187631208794760894
  17. ^ Nel, André & Roques, Patrick (31 August 2021). "The second species of the cnemidolestid genus Piesbergopterum from the Upper Carboniferous of Avion, Northern France (Archaeorthoptera: Cnemidolestidae)". Palaeoentomology. 4 (4): 323-325. doi:10.11646/PALAEOENTOMOLOGY.4.4.6
  18. ^ Schubnel, Thomas; Legendre, Frédéric; Roques, Patrick; Garrouste, Romain; Cornette, Raphaël; Perreau, Michel; Perreau, Naïl; Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure; Nel, André (8 July 2021). "Sound vs. light: wing-based communication in Carboniferous insects". Communications Biology. 4 (1). doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02281-0. PMC 8266802
  19. ^ Nel, André; Roques, Patrick; Nel, Patricia; Prokop, Jakub; Steyer, J. Sébastien (January 2007). "The earliest holometabolous insect from the Carboniferous: a “crucial” innovation with delayed success (Insecta Protomeropina Protomeropidae)". Annales de la Société entomologique de France. 43 (3): 349–355. New Series. doi:10.1080/00379271.2007.10697531
  20. ^ Nel, Patricia; Azar, Dany; Prokop, Jakub; Roques, Patrick; Hodebert, Gilbert; Nel, André (June 2012). "From Carboniferous to Recent: wing venation enlightens evolution of thysanopteran lineage". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (2): 385–399. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.598578