Size: 30-inch wingspan
Diet: Predator, catches other insects on the wing
Locality: Worldwide
Age: Late Carboniferous to early Permian (311 to 282 million years ago)

"Giant nerves" (Brongniart: 1885)
"mega-nyur-id"

The almighty Meganeurids were the largest flying insects that have ever lived. Although not true dragonflies, they looked very similar, with large eyes and forward projecting legs for grasping.

Meganeurids were the top aerial predators of the late Carboniferous swamps, patrolling the skies for their insect prey. They had bodies keenly adapted for flight; their legs were very forward positioned, perfect for plucking prey from the ground or snatching them directly from the air.

The largest Meganeurids lived in the classic coal-forming swamps of the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian periods. Through the Permian period, decline in swamp habitat and possibly atmospheric oxygen seems to have spelled the end for the Meganeurids. Modern dragonfly groups eventually took their place, although they never again reached the dramatic sizes of these Carboniferous monsters.