Texas fossil reveals early insects kept aquatic limbs during move onto land
The formation of complex terrestrial ecosystems was a significant innovation in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. This event signified the expansion of life beyond marine environments and marked the beginning of a new phase in the diversification of terrestrial biota.
A new fossil discovery from the Late Mississippian period in western Texas sheds light on the early evolution of insects, with implications for the understanding of the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life. The study, led by Professor CAI Chenyang from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology and Erik Tihelka from the University of Cambridge, describes a new species, Chosha praecursor.
This fossil provides evidence that insects retained and remodeled ancestral aquatic features during their move onto land, passing through a prolonged semi-aquatic and amphibious phase. The fossils reveal that early insects had abdominal appendages modified into paddle-like structures, a unique feature not found in modern crown-group insects.
The researchers also identified the species as a primitive insect stem clade, representing the oldest documented insect assemblage globally. This discovery fills a 80-million-year gap in the fossil record, pushing back the early diversification of insects from the Late Carboniferous into the Early Devonian and reconciling discrepancies between molecular-clock estimates and the body-fossil record.
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Also reported by 2 other outlets
- Ancient Texas fossil suggests insects moved from water to land gradually timesofindia.indiatimes.com
- 324-million-year-old fossil reveals how insects conquered land sciencedaily.com
