New family of fossil dragonfly (Odonata, Cavilabiata) from the late Cretaceous (Campanian) Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada

A new dragonfly species, Cordualadensa acorni gen. et sp. nov ., assigned to Cordualadensidae fam. nov. (Odonata, Cavilabiata), is described from Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP). The taxon represents the oldest known North American fossil taxon within Cavilabiata and the only Mesozoic dragonfly for Canada. This discovery provides a missing link in the evolutionary transition from the early Cretaceous Cavilabiata to extant families and introduces one of the few dragonflies known from the late Cretaceous fossil record. The specimen described herein also confirms that insect impression fossils can be preserved in the Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF) and suggests that the diversity of the entomofauna preserved in DPP's fossil assemblage is only beginning to be fully appreciated. The presence of dragonflies in the DPF also supports the hypothesis that Campanian Alberta had a sufficiently high insect biomass to support insect predators at higher trophic levels.