rekordy: Cockroach

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known pests. Modern cockroaches are an ancient group that first appeared during the Late Jurassic. Their ancestors, known as "roachoids", likely originated during the Carboniferous period around 320 million years ago. Those early ancestors, however, lacked the internal ovipositors of modern roaches. Cockroaches are somewhat generalized insects lacking special adaptations (such as the sucking mouthparts of aphids and other true bugs); they have chewing mouthparts and are probably among the most primitive of living…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Understanding of the evolution of insects is based on studies of the following branches of science: molecular biology, insect morphology, paleontology, insect taxonomy, evolution, embryology, bioinformatics, and scientific computing. The study of insect fossils is known as paleoentomology. It is estimated that the class of insects originated on Earth about 480 million years ago, in the Ordovician, at about the same time terrestrial plants appeared. Insects are thought to have evolved from a group of crustaceans. The first insects were landbound, but about 400 million years ago in the Devonian period one lineage of insects evolved flight, the first animals to do so. The oldest insect fossil…

Evidence: 43 • authority: 72

The Carboniferous ( KAR-bə-NIF-ər-əs) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period 358.86 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Permian Period, 298.9 Ma. It is the fifth period of the Phanerozoic eon. In North America, the Carboniferous is often treated as two separate geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian. The name Carboniferous means "coal-bearing", from the Latin carbō ("coal") and ferō ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. The first of the modern "system" names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Philli…

Evidence: 21 • authority: 72

Meganisoptera is an extinct order of large dragonfly-like insects, informally known as griffenflies, griffinflies, or (incorrectly) as giant dragonflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies). They range in Palaeozoic (Late Carboniferous to Late Permian) times. Though most were only slightly larger than modern dragonflies, the order includes the largest known insect species, such as the late Carboniferous Meganeura monyi and the even larger early Permian Meganeuropsis permiana, with wingspans of up to 71 centimetres (28 in). The forewings and hindwings are similar in v…

Evidence: 21 • authority: 88

Old collections, new taxa: late Carboniferous (Moscovian) roachoids (stem group Dictyoptera) among plants with insect interactions from the Benxi Formation, China, stored in European museums. The late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) witnessed the intensification of climatic gradients with the onset of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. During this time, high latitudes were characterized by the spread of ice sheets, whereas the palaeotropics hosted the emergence of vast, verdant, coal-forming, swamp forests. Not only were the planet’s landscapes transformed through proliferation and diversification of vascular plants, but the evolution of diverse insect groups, including ‘primitive’ roachoids, reconf…

Evidence: 21 • authority: 92

The contribution of the Middle Triassic fossil assemblage of Monte San Giorgio to insect evolution.. The Triassic represents a critical period for understanding the turnover of insect fauna from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic following the end-Permian mass extinctions (EPME); however, fossil deposits from the Early-Middle Triassic are scarce. The exceptionally preserved 239 million-year-old fossil insect fauna recorded at Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland), including 248 fossils representing 15 major insect clades is presented here. Besides the exceptional features, including their small size and excellent preservation, the fossils have importance in the evolutionary history of the group. The t…

Evidence: — • authority: 80

Tiny cut marks on animal bone fossils reveal that human ancestors were in Romania 1.95 million years ago

Evidence: — • authority: 80

Echidna ancestors lived watery lifestyles like platypuses 100 million years ago – new study

Evidence: — • authority: 80

The Ancestors of Cryptococci Appeared on Earth 600 Million Years Ago

Evidence: — • authority: 80

More than 252 million years ago, mammal ancestors became warm-blooded to survive mass extinction

Evidence: — • authority: 80

Human ancestors were walking upright 7 million years ago, ancient limb bone suggests

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Termites are a group of eusocial insects which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their beaded (moniliform) antennae and the soft-bodied, unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants but highly derived cockroaches; they are genetically closer to some cockroach groups than these are to other cockroaches. About 2,997 extant species are currently described, 2,125 of which are members of the family Termitidae. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (the cockroaches…