324-million-year-old insect still had swimming paddles

Palaeoecological reconstruction of the Carboniferous stem-insect Chosha praecursor. (Image by NIGPAS) An international research team has identified a remarkable insect fossil from western Texas that could represent a crucial missing link in the story of insect evolution. The fossil, from the Late Mississippian period approximately 324 million years ago, belongs to a stem group of insects and may help scientists understand how these early insects transitioned from aquatic to terrestrial environments. Interestingly enough, the transition was a much slower process than previously believed. The researchers combined this discovery with previous fossils to better understand the evolution of insects. The findings are published in the journal Nature.Early insects had six walking legs and paddle-like limbs(Image by NIGPAS)The new fossil suggests that insects did not immediately transform into fully terrestrial creatures after colonising land. The process was slower. They retained and remodelled ancestral aquatic features and passed through a semi-aquatic, amphibious phase before becoming fully terrestrial. The study was led by Professor CAI Chenyang from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and...