Bohemiatupus elegans is known only from one fossil, the
holotype, specimen number "M00485" which is composed of an isolated
fore-wing and
hind-wing. The wings are preserved as a
negative imprint fossil in a sedimentary
tuff. The fossil specimen is from outcrops of the Kladno Formation exposed in the Ovčín opencast mine.
Bohemiatupus elegans is the first described occurrence of large griffinflies found in the continental basins of the
Bohemian Massif. The type specimen is currently preserved in the
collections housed in the West Bohemian Museum, located in
Plzeň,
Czech Republic.
Bohemiatupus was first studied by Jakub Prokop of
Charles University in
Prague, Czech Republic and André Nel of the
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in
Paris, France. Their 2008
type description of the genus and species was published in the journal
Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. The
generic name was coined by Prokop and Nel from a combination of the "
Bohemia" in reference to the historical central European region and the meganeurid genus
Tupus to which
Bohemiatupus is related. The
etymology of the
specific epithet elegans is
Latin and refers to the "magnificent state of preservation" displayed by the holotype. The ecosystem in which
Bohemiatupus elegans lived is interpreted as a shallow lake that developed into a
peat-mire due to sediment infill from volcanic ash during the Bolsovian.
Bohemiatupus elegans shared this environment with the notably large insect species
Bojophlebia prokopi and
Carbotriplura kukalovae, which were described from the Kladno Formation earlier. ==Description==