Amber Unveils Evolution of Ancient Antlions
An international team led by Prof. WANG Bo from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) and two Italian researchers found fossil Myrmeleontiformia fauna from mid-Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago) Burmese amber. The study was published in Nature Communications on August 22, 2018.
Diversity of lacewing larvae in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber.
Credit: NIGPAS
This morphological stasis helped in reconstructing behaviors not preserved by a trace in the fossil record. Inference of these behaviors shed light on the ecological niche and lifestyle of extinct Myrmeleontiformia.
Statistical correlation analysis strongly supported a correlation between a selection of morphological traits and two hunting strategies of these ambush predators – camouflaging and fossoriality – allowing us to reconstruct habits of extinct species.
The findings suggested that fossorial specializations evolved more than once across Myrmeleontiformia from arboreal ancestors. The fossorial lifestyle of antlions was certainly one of the factors leading to their success, allowing these insects to colonize and diversify in arid habitats where they survived considerable changes in terrestrial environments during the Cretaceous lineages.
This is a reconstruction of two lacewing larvae.
Credit: Yang Dinghua
This research also implies that camouflaging behavior arose at least three times within Myrmeleontiformia. Camouflaging and fossoriality appear widespread across the lineage, and both behaviors allowed the predatory larvae to hide from their unsuspecting prey.
Contacts and sources:
Chen Xiaozheng
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Citation:
Diverse Cretaceous larvae reveal the evolutionary and behavioural history of antlions and lacewings
Davide Badano, Michael S. Engel, Andrea Basso, Bo Wang & Pierfilippo Cerretti
Nature Communication volume 9, Article number: 3257 (2018) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05484-y
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2018/08/amber-unveils-evolution-of-ancient.html
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