Fossil Found in the 1920s Is Identified as the Oldest Insect
A tiny fossil that was discovered in the 1920s and then largely ignored has been identified as the oldest known insect, scientists report. The discovery pushes back the origins of Earth’s most prolific life form about 20 million years.
The new analysis of the 400-million-year-old specimen also suggests that it may have had wings, hinting that winged insects -- and insects in general -- arose much earlier than had been presumed.
Encased in translucent rock called chert, the fossil is about an eighth of a square inch and reveals a pair of triangular jaws that are similar to those found only in winged insects, said David A. Grimaldi, curator of entomology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel of the University of Kansas report their findings on the Rhyniognatha hirsti in today’s issue of the journal Nature.
The fossil was found in Scotland in the 1920s and was described by an Australian scientist in a 1928 paper as possibly an insect.
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