New light shed on the oldest insect
@article{Engel2004NewLS, title={New light shed on the oldest insect}, author={Michael S. Engel and David A. Grimaldi}, journal={Nature}, year={2004}, volume={427}, pages={627-630} }
Insects are the most diverse lineage of all life in numbers of species, and ecologically they dominate terrestrial ecosystems. However, how and when this immense radiation of animals originated is unclear. Only a few fossils provide insight into the earliest stages of insect evolution, and among them are specimens in chert from Rhynie, Scotland's Old Red Sandstone (Pragian; about 396–407 million years ago), which is only slightly younger than formations harbouring the earliest terrestrial…
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