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Logghe A, Nel A, Steyer JS, Ngô-Muller V, Pouillon JM, Garrouste R. A twig-like insect stuck in the Permian mud indicates early origin of an ecological strategy in Hexapoda evolution. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20774. [PMID: 34675246 PMCID: PMC8531326 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00110-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Full body impressions and resting traces of Hexapoda can be of extreme importance because they bring crucial information on behavior and locomotion of the trace makers, and help to better define trophic relationships with other organisms (predators or preys). However, these ichnofossils are much rarer than trackways, especially for winged insects. Here we describe a new full-body impression of a winged insect from the Middle Permian of Gonfaron (Var, France) whose preservation is exceptional. The elongate body with short prothorax and legs and long wings overlapping the body might suggests a plant mimicry as for some extant stick insects. These innovations are probably in relation with an increasing predation pressure by terrestrial vertebrates, whose trackways are abundant in the same layers. This discovery would possibly support the recent age estimates for the appearance of phasmatodean-like stick insects, nearly 30 million years older than the previous putative records. The new exquisite specimen is fossilized on a slab with weak ripple-marks, suggesting the action of microbial mats favoring the preservation of its delicate structures. Further prospections in sites with this type of preservation could enrich our understanding of early evolutionary history of insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Logghe
- Centre de Recherches en Paléontologie - Paris, UMR 7207 - CNRS, MNHN, SU, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 8 rue Buffon, CP38, 75005, Paris, France. .,Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, 75005, Paris, France.
| | - André Nel
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, 75005, Paris, France.
| | - Jean-Sébastien Steyer
- Centre de Recherches en Paléontologie - Paris, UMR 7207 - CNRS, MNHN, SU, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 8 rue Buffon, CP38, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Valérie Ngô-Muller
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, 75005, Paris, France.,Faculté des Sciences, UFR Sciences du Vivant, Université de Paris, 5, rue Thomas Mann, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Marc Pouillon
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, 75005, Paris, France.,Rhinopolis, 179 rue des Plattières, 38300, Nivolas Vermelle, France
| | - Romain Garrouste
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, 75005, Paris, France.
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