Changes to the Fossil Record of Insects through Fifteen Years of Discovery

Abstract

The first and last occurrences of hexapod families in the fossil record are compiled from publications up to end-2009. The major features of these data are compared with those of previous datasets (1993 and 1994). About a third of families (>400) are new to the fossil record since 1994, over half of the earlier, existing families have experienced changes in their known stratigraphic range and only about ten percent have unchanged ranges. Despite these significant additions to knowledge, the broad pattern of described richness through time remains similar, with described richness increasing steadily through geological history and a shift in dominant taxa, from Palaeoptera and Polyneoptera to Paraneoptera and Holometabola, after the Palaeozoic. However, after detrending, described richness is not well correlated with the earlier datasets, indicating significant changes in shorter-term patterns. There is reduced Palaeozoic richness, peaking at a different time, and a less pronounced Permian decline. A pronounced Triassic peak and decline is shown, and the plateau from the mid Early Cretaceous to the end of the period remains, albeit at substantially higher richness compared to earlier datasets. Origination and extinction rates are broadly similar to before, with a broad decline in both through time but episodic peaks, including end-Permian turnover. Origination more consistently exceeds extinction compared to previous datasets and exceptions are mainly in the Palaeozoic. These changes suggest that some inferences about causal mechanisms in insect macroevolution are likely to differ as well.

A Review of Necrotauliids from the Triassic/Jurassic of England (Trichoptera: Necrotauliidae)

“…The genus was provisionally placed in Philopotamidae [17] based on similarities in forewing venation and additional species have been included [18]. A possible philopotamid was described from the Ladinian\Carnian of Madygen, Kyrgyzstan, and prorhyacophilids and necrotauliids have also been described from this locality; thus these are potentially the oldest true Trichoptera (see [19]). The genus Acisarcuatus was described from the Middle Jurassic of China and placed in the Necrotauliidae [20].…”

Deciphering the preservation of fossil insects: a case study from the Crato Member, Early Cretaceous of Brazil

“…The high preservational fidelity of insects from the Crato Member (Santana Formation, northeastern Brazil) defines it as a taphonomic window for an Early Cretaceous ecosystem (Soares et al, 2013). Due to this kind of unique record, we know that the evolutionary history of the insects was characterised by major radiation and extinction events in the Cretaceous (Nicholson, Mayhew & Ross, 2015), when the diversification of social insects (Jarzembowski & Ross, 1996; Engel, Grimaldi & Krishna, 2007) and the radiation of flowering plants (Lidgard & Crane, 1988) took place. The latter has impacted insect evolution thereafter (Jarzembowski & Ross, 1996; Labandeira, 2014).…”

Earwigs (Dermaptera) from the Mesozoic of England and Australia, described from isolated tegmina, including the first species to be named from the Triassic

“…Previously, the range of the Dermapteridae was within the Jurassic: Callovian to Oxfordian (Nicholson et al 2015); however, if Phanerogramma, Dimapteron and Valdopteron do belong to this family, then the range is extended from the Triassic: Carnian to Cretaceous: Barremian.…”