- Prehistoric insects
Prehistoric insects are various groups of
insects that lived before recordedhistory . Insects inhabitedEarth since before the time of thedinosaur s. Many modern insects had already evolved to very similar forms even before the dawning of the dinosaur and lived alongside them and beyond up to the present day. Like today, prehistoric insects were an important part of thefood chain in their time.The differences between modern and prehistoric varieties can be essential, and, like many other creatures of prehistory, the latter tended to be much larger than their contemporary equivalents. This size difference is thought to be due to higher
atmospheric oxygen levels (allowingdiffusion throughspiracle s over greater distances) and highertemperature s (enhancingmetabolism ).Since insects have
chitin exoskeleton s rather thanmineral izedbone s, their burial processes differ compared to thefossil s of much largervertebrate s such asdinosaur s. Many insect remains are found preserved in the hardened sap of ancienttree s (amber ).Examples of prehistoric insects include:
*
Eobelinae
*Palaeodictyopteroidea
*Rhyniognatha
*Meganeura See also
*
Prehistoric life References
*
*.External links
* [http://www.abc.net.au/ozfossil/ageofreptiles/fauna/insects.htm Insects in the Age of Reptiles]
* [http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/fossil.htm Insect Fossils] A timechart and evolutionary history.
* [http://fossilinsects.net International Palaeoentomological Society]
* [http://palaeoentomolog.ru Palaeoentomology in Russia] in both English and Russian
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