science

Steleopteridae

Steleopteridae is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Steleopteridae rather than just read about it. In short: Steleopteridae is a family of extinct winged damselflies whose fossils have been found in modern Germany, Great Britain and Kazakhstan, and which lived at the end of the Jurassic and the beginning of the Cretaceous (166.1–130.0 million years ago). The family was described by the Austrian paleoentomologist Anton Handlirsch in 1906 on the basis of the fossilised exoskeleton Steleopteron deichmuelleri.

Key takeaways

Steleopteridae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Steleopteridae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Steleopteridae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Steleopteridae is a family of extinct winged damselflies whose fossils have been found in modern Germany, Great Britain and Kazakhstan, and which lived at the end of the Jurassic and the beginning of the Cretaceous (166.1–130.0 million years ago).

The family was described by the Austrian paleoentomologist Anton Handlirsch in 1906 on the basis of the fossilised exoskeleton Steleopteron deichmuelleri. Hence, the type genus is Steleopteron. Handlirsch assigned the family to the Epiproctophora. In 2001, the family was excluded from the Epiproctophora and transferred into a suborder of winged damselflies, Zygoptera. Until 2018, it had been believed that Steleopteridae became extinct in the Jurassic, but the discovery of Steleopteron cretacicus showed that the family may have become extinct as late as the Cretaceous. They were fast flying insectivorous/carnivorous predators. According to the Fossilworks Database website, as of November 2019, the family includes 5 extinct species:

Auliella crucigera Pritykina, 1968 Euparasteleopteron viohli Fleck et al., 2001 Parasteleopteron guischardi Fleck et al., 2001 Steleopteron cretacicus Zheng et al. 2018 Steleopteron deichmuelleri Handlirsch, 1906

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Steleopteridae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Steleopteridae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Steleopteridae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Steleopteridae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Steleopteridae

In research: Steleopteridae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Steleopteridae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Steleopteridae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fossil odonates, Odonata families, Prehistoric insect families, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Steleopteridae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Steleopteridae” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Steleopteridae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Steleopteridae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Steleopteridae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Steleopteridae in simple terms?

Why does Steleopteridae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Steleopteridae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Steleopteridae.