New scans of fossils indicate that insect flight may have appeared much later than scientists have long assumed, Phys.org reported on Thursday. The findings challenge the established timeline for when insects first took to the air, with the origins of flight possibly dating up to 80 million years later than the current consensus holds.
According to Phys.org, the research relies on fresh scans of fossil material rather than newly discovered specimens. The outlet reports that the results point to a significant revision of when winged insects first evolved.
The accepted timeline for insect flight has rested on fossil evidence that researchers have interpreted as showing early winged insects. The new scanning work, as described by Phys.org, calls that reading into question and shifts the estimated emergence of flight substantially later.
The report does not detail the specific fossils examined, the scanning methods used, or the researchers behind the work. Phys.org's summary focuses on the headline conclusion: that the origins of insect flight may be as much as 80 million years more recent than previously thought.
Insect flight is a foundational trait in the history of life on land, and any change to its timing affects how scientists reconstruct the evolution of insects and the ecosystems they inhabited. A later origin would alter the sequence in which flight and other traits are thought to have developed.
Watch for the full study and any response from other paleontologists, which will determine how widely the revised timeline is accepted.
