Thermoregulatory Significance of Thoracic Lobes in the Evolution of Insect Wings

Douglas, Matthew

doi:10.1126/science.211.4477.84

Cited by 36 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Douglas (1981) continued work similar to that of Wasserthal, who showed that only the proximal portion of the wings accomplish most of the body warming during basking. Douglas (1981) continued work similar to that of Wasserthal, who showed that only the proximal portion of the wings accomplish most of the body warming during basking.…”

Section: Thermoregulation and The Evolution Of Wingsmentioning

confidence: 69%

The Hot-Blooded Insects

Heinrich¹

1993

320

144

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Section: Thermoregulation and The Evolution Of Wingsmentioning

confidence: 69%

The Hot-Blooded Insects

Heinrich¹

1993

320

144

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“…Recent debate has focused predominantly on the anatomical origin of wings (immovable thoracic lobes or articulated gills) and whether small protowings served originally for adaptive aerodynamic functions (5) (6). Presently, the fossil, neurological, and developmental evidence (4,7) favors the wings-from-gills model (2); however, no previous hypotheses have offered a detailed model exwlaining u how fliers could have evolved from swimmers, nor have they utilized detailed examinations of behavior, physiology, and morphology of the extant insect orders (Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera) that are anatomically and phylogenetically closest to preflight fossil insects.…”

Section: Surface-skimming Stoneflies: a Possible Intermediate Stage Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Native data (95% complete ang fourfold redundant to a resolution of 2.53 A) were collected on a Hamlin multiwire area detector from two crystals and combined to yield an R, , , , of 5.8%. The structure was solved by the multiple isomorphous replacement (MIR) method (6), and the partial deduced amino acid sequence (2) was fitted to the electron densitv man The remainine 306 residues of the , A u flavoprotein subunit, determined by classical sequencing methods (7), were then placed in the density and the structure was refined.…”

Section: Vol 266mentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface-Skimming Stoneflies: A Possible Intermediate Stage in Insect Flight Evolution

Marden

Kramer

1994

Science

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Insect wings appear to have evolved from gills used by aquatic forms for ventilation and swimming, yet the nature of intermediate stages remains a mystery. Here a form of nonflying aerodynamic locomotion used by aquatic insects is described, called surface skimming, in which thrust is provided by wing flapping while continuous contact with the water removes the need for total aerodynamic weight support. Stoneflies surface skim with wing areas and muscle power output severely reduced, which indicates that surface skimming could have been an effective form of locomotion for ancestral aquatic insects with small protowings and low muscle power output.

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“…A variety of possible functional roles have been attributed to winglets or wings of protopterygotes, including aerodynamic utility, epigamic display during courtship, and thermoregulation (109)(110)(111)(112)(113)(114)(115). Hydrodynamic use for what ultimately became aerodynamic structures has been proposed for ancestrally aquatic protopterygotes, as have been possibly amphibious lifestyles (116,117).…”

Section: Origins Of Flight In Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolutionary Physiology of Animal Flight: Paleobiological and Present Perspectives

Dudley

2000

Annu. Rev. Physiol.

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Recent geophysical analyses suggest the presence of a late Paleozoic oxygen pulse beginning in the late Devonian and continuing through to the late Carboniferous. During this period, plant terrestrialization and global carbon deposition resulted in a dramatic increase in atmospheric oxygen levels, ultimately yielding concentrations potentially as high as 35% relative to the contemporary value of 21%. Such hyperoxia of the late Paleozoic atmosphere may have physiologically facilitated the initial evolution of insect flight metabolism. Widespread gigantism in late Paleozoic insects and other arthropods is also consistent with enhanced oxygen flux within diffusion-limited tracheal systems. Because total atmospheric pressure increases with increased oxygen partial pressure, concurrently hyperdense conditions would have augmented aerodynamic force production in early forms of flying insects. By the late Permian, evolution of decompositional microbial and fungal communities, together with disequilibrium in rates of carbon deposition, gradually reduced oxygen concentrations to values possibly as low as 15%. The disappearance of giant insects by the end of the Permian is consistent with extinction of these taxa for reasons of asphyxiation on a geological time scale. As with winged insects, the multiple historical origins of vertebrate flight in the late Jurassic and Cretaceous correlate temporally with periods of elevated atmospheric oxygen. Much discussion of flight performance in Archaeopteryx assumes a contemporary atmospheric composition. Elevated oxygen levels in the mid-to late Mesozoic would, however, have facilitated aerodynamic force production and enhanced muscle power output for ancestral birds, as well as for precursors to bats and pterosaurs.

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Thermoregulatory Significance of Thoracic Lobes in the Evolution of Insect Wings

Cited by 36 publications

References 9 publications

The Hot-Blooded Insects

The Hot-Blooded Insects

Surface-Skimming Stoneflies: A Possible Intermediate Stage in Insect Flight Evolution

The Evolutionary Physiology of Animal Flight: Paleobiological and Present Perspectives

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