Photo Credit: (Engel & Grimaldi 2004)
I decided I would like to do a fun weekly topic on a certain insect, thus "insect of the week" is born. I won't have much criteria for selection, except for it being an insect, whether dead or alive.
The oldest true insect ever found is Rhyniognatha hirsti, it was discovered in a fragment of Rhynie chert in 1919 by Reverend W. Cran.
The specimen itself is associated with winged insect features and is an important evolutionary link in winged insect evolution. The specimen also had large mandibles, however it's difficult to say what they were truly used for. It is assumed R. hirstifed on plant sporophylls like other insects of the time.
A small counter argument on this specimen comes from a study that used 3D modeling techniques and concluded the mandibles and other features resembled a myriapod (centipedes) instead.
Image Credit: (Carolin Haug & Joachim T. Haug, 2017)
Regardless of the true anatomy, if the find turns out to be a true insect, the emergence date of insects would be placed in the Silurian period, making insects one of the earliest terrestrial members on the planet.
I would like to post more information on this particular "insect", however, information is very limited.
Hope you enjoyed the first installment of "insect of the week"
