| Protorthoptera Temporal range: Middle Carboniferous | |
|---|---|
| Hadentomum americanum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Cohort: | Polyneoptera |
| Order: | †Protorthoptera Handlirsch, 1906 |
| Families | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Protorthoptera are an extinct order of Palaeozoic insects, and represent a wastebasket taxon and paraphyletic assemblage of basal neoptera[citation needed]. They appear during the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian), making them among the earliest known winged insects in the fossil record. Pronotal lobes may be expanded to form a shield. The group includes the ancestors of all other polyneopterous insects.
Protorthoptera