Amphipteryx [SEP] parent taxon
Amphipteryx
Amphipteryx is a genus of damselflies, the only genus in the family Amphipterygidae. It is limited to Mesoamerica from Mexico to Honduras and Guatemala.
Most damselflies in this family live in tropical rainforests and cloud forests. They rest on vegetation hanging over seeps and streams. The larvae live in gravel and leaf litter.
There are five species in this family:
- "Amphipteryx agrioides" – Montane Relict Damsel
- "Amphipteryx chiapensis"
- "Amphipteryx jaroli"
- "Amphipteryx meridionalis"
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of