Page 51 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)
P. 51
Like its modern counterparts, Meganeura was a hunter that laid its eggs in water, and after these hatched, the young
preyed on other insects. It probably used the same predatory would live underwater for several years before emerging to
technique, targeting airborne prey and seizing them with its change into adult flying insects. The puzzle about Meganeura
bristly legs. Flying back to a perch, Meganeura would then is how it could grow so much bigger than any living dragonfly.
use its powerful biting jaws to chew through its prey’s tough One theory is that higher oxygen levels in the atmosphere
armor to reach the soft flesh within. Meganeura would have allowed insects to grow larger than they do now.
US_048-049_Airborne_giant.indd 49 10/04/18 3:33 PM
