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Palaeontology

An insect to fill the gap

Nature volume 488, pages 34–35 (2012)Cite this article

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A complete insect fossil from the Devonian period has long been sought. The finding of a candidate may improve our patchy understanding of when winged insects evolved. See Letter p.82

Insects are, in terms of species number, the most successful group of animals ever to have lived. But their evolutionary origins are a source of controversy, and will continue to be so until the fossil record finally yields up unequivocal evidence of insect beginnings. On page 82 of this issue, Garrouste et al.1 claim to have found precisely this. Although it can hardly be described as well preserved, the fossil shows a six-legged thorax, long single-branched antennae, triangular jaws and a 10-segmented abdomen (see Fig. 2 of the paper1). Insects are the only known arthropods (joint-legged invertebrate animals) with this anatomical combination, allowing the authors to make a strong case for the fossil's insectan identity.

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Figure 1: Winged beginnings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. William A. Shear is in the Department of Biology at Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia 23943, USA.,

    William A. Shear

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  1. William A. Shear
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Correspondence to William A. Shear.

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Shear, W. An insect to fill the gap. Nature 488, 34–35 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/488034a

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