Austropetaliidae is a small family of dragonflies occurring in Chile, Argentina and Australia. Members of Austropetaliidae can be medium-sized to large dragonflies.
Genera The family includes the following genera: Archipetalia Austropetalia Hypopetalia Phyllopetalia
Taxonomy This group was initially created for some archaic members of the family Neopetaliidae and was promoted to family rank in 1994.
Bechly (1996) placed the genus Archipetalia in its own family, Archipetaliidae. However, this arrangement has not been widely followed, and later authors have kept Archipetalia within Austropetaliidae.
Etymology The family name Austropetaliidae is derived from the type genus Austropetalia, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families. The genus name Austropetalia combines austro- (from Latin auster, “south wind”, hence “southern”) with Petalia, a genus name derived from Greek πέταλον (petalon, “petal”).
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