A new dragonfly family from the Upper Cretaceous of France

Abstract : The new aeshnopteran family Enigmaeshnidae is proposed for Enigmaeshna deprei gen. et sp. nov., the first fossil insect collected as imprint in the Earliest Cenomanian clay of the Puy-Puy quarry at Tormay-Charente (Charente-Maritime, SW France). The bed bearing E. deprei was previously known for its highly diversified fossil plant assemblage. Although this taxon belongs to the much derived clade Aeshnodea, it is characterized by several unique hind wing venation characters, never found in other Aeshnoptera, viz. part of MAb distal of the trigonal planate very long, and presence of five posterior branches of AA directed towards posterior wing margin.