Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests

Chen, Lu; Gu, Jun‐Jie; Yang, Qiang; Ren, Dong; Blanke, Alexander; Béthoux, Olivier

doi:10.7554/elife.71006

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Images were cropped and enhanced by means of contrast and brightness in Adobe Photoshop CS6. For the relief-enhanced images, raw images for polynomial texture mapping (also known as Reflectance Transforming Imaging) were acquired by a self-crafted system that permits lighting from 50 different directions (see Béthoux et al, 2016, Chen et al, 2021 for previous application of this method on insect fossils), and the same Canon EOS 60D camera setting mentioned above. The specimen was white-coated with magnesium oxide for this process.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new titanopteranMagnatitan jongheonin. gen. n. sp. from southwestern Korean Peninsula

et al. 2022

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Titanopterans are spectacular, giant, predatory insects mainly known from the Triassic, but they are known from a few localities in Central Asia (including European Russia) and Australia. The Nampo Group is a nonmarine sequence, located on the southwestern Korean Peninsula, the age of which has remained controversial, due to lack of proper age-constraining fossils. Here, we report a new titanopteran Magnatitan jongheoni n. gen. n. sp. from the Amisan Formation, Nampo Group. The division of the radius anterior and radius posterior beyond the distal half of the fossil wing is a characteristic of the family Paratitanidae. This is the first discovery of a titanopteran fossil outside of Central Asia and Australia, suggesting a possible circum-Tethys oceanic distribution. Given the possibly widespread distribution of titanopterans, this group might have played a critical role as giant predatory insects in Triassic terrestrial ecology. Because titanopterans have never been found beyond the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, the occurrence of a titanopteran corroborates the Triassic age of the Nampo Group. UUID: http://zoobank.org/10177029-0044-424f-9816-e3fb057cfe85

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new titanopteranMagnatitan jongheonin. gen. n. sp. from southwestern Korean Peninsula

et al. 2022

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“…The genus name derives from the Chinese idiom literally translated as ‘finding a needle from the sea bottom’ (i.e. ‘finding a needle in a haystack’), referring to both the wing shape of the type-species and its rarity (hence the difficulty to find it; insect species are commonly sampled by tens of specimens, and for some by hundreds, at the Xiaheyan locality [ 39 , 40 ]); moreover, the sediments embedding the wing were deposited under a marine environment [ 41 ]; feminine in gender.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little bits of dragonfly history repeating exemplified by a new Pennsylvanian family

Yang,

Ren,

Béthoux

2023

R. Soc. open sci.

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During its 320 Myr evolution, dragon- and damselfly (Odonata) wing morphology underwent intense modifications. The resulting diversity prompted comparative analyses focusing on phylogeny. However, homoplasy proved to plague wing-related characters. Concurrently, limited benefits were obtained from considering fossil taxa, similarly impacted. Herein, we investigate two aspects particularly affected by convergence, namely the acquisition of vein-like structuring elements derived from regular cross-venation, termed conamina; and the evolution of butter knife wing shape. Conamen implementation is found to be consistently linked with vein curvature sharpening, itself generating potential breaking points. Conamina therefore likely evolved to address wing integrity issues during ever-more-demanding flight performance. Moreover, an existing conamen is likely to trigger the acquisition of further, associated conamina. As for butter knife shape, previously documented in the extinct Archizygoptera and among damselflies, we report a new, 315 Ma occurrence with the rare species Haidilaozhen cuiae gen. et sp. nov. (family Haidilaozhenidae fam. nov.), from the Xiaheyan locality (China). The repeated acquisition of butter knife-shaped wing can be related to slow speed flight and, in turn, predator avoidance. In both cases of iterated regularities, the unique ‘network-and-membrane’ wing design proper to insects is found to compose a strong, constraining factor.

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“…Despite not having gained widespread adoption in the field of palaeontology, Multi Light Imaging has already been used as a tool to study and visualize the surface relief of various types of fossils (e.g., Hammer et al, 2002;Cui et al, 2018;Kenchington et al, 2018;Demers-Potvin et al, 2020Park et al, 2022;Henkemeier et al, 2023). Normal maps have recently seen some adoption as a form of visualisation, especially in studies centred around fossils of winged insects (e.g., Béthoux et al, 2021;Chen et al, 2021;Cui et al, 2022;Schädel et al, 2022).…”

Section: Recording and Processing Multi Light Image Collectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flatbed scanners as versatile tools for studying surface details of compression fossils

Schädel,

Schubert

2024

Palaeontol Electron

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Compression fossils can be challenging to interpret, especially when necessary information is not apparent from colour alone, e.g., when there is little organic matter preserved. In this case, the shape of the fossil's surface can often still provide much information about the morphology of the preserved organism. Stereo photography and recording images with incident light from different directions (Multi Light Image Collections) are suitable methods to retrieve surface details for inspection or further processing. It has been shown that CCD-type flatbed scanners (one of two widespread scanner architectures) act as cameras with cylindrical projections. The displacement of subjects perpendicular to the scanning direction allows capturing stereographic image sets, like using regular photographic camera lenses, which approximate a point projection. This technique is particularly well-suited for documenting compression fossils. As most CCD-type flatbed scanners illuminate the scanned area with a single movable lamp, the resulting images are evenly illuminated from one direction. This can be utilized to create Multi Light Image Collections by rotating the subject on the scanner surface. When rotated by defined angles, standard photometric stereo programs can be used to retrieve digital models of the surface, such as normal maps (a graphical representation of the surface shape). While consumer grade CCD-type flatbed scanners are not suited for all size ranges of fossils and desired image magnifications, for many compression fossils they can serve as a versatile tool for documenting surface shapes, especially when dedicated imaging equipment is unavailable.

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Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests

Cited by 8 publications

References 110 publications

A new titanopteranMagnatitan jongheonin. gen. n. sp. from southwestern Korean Peninsula

A new titanopteranMagnatitan jongheonin. gen. n. sp. from southwestern Korean Peninsula

Little bits of dragonfly history repeating exemplified by a new Pennsylvanian family

Flatbed scanners as versatile tools for studying surface details of compression fossils

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