Ain\'t nature wonderful (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, September 13, 2010, 15:22 (5185 days ago) @ David Turell

Another example of camoflage, wings of fossil insects that match the leaves of the plants existing at the same time in evolution. The patterned wings appear fully developed in pattern, stay the same and then disappear as the plants also disappear. A form of punctuated eqilibrium.--Ancient pinnate leaf mimesis among lacewings
Yongjie Wang, Zhiqi Liu, Xin Wang, Chungkun Shih, Yunyun Zhao, Michael S. Engel, and Dong Ren.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Published online before print August 30, 2010 | doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006460107-Abstract: Insects have evolved diverse methods of predator avoidance, many of which implicate complex adaptations of their wings (e.g., Phylliidae, Nymphalidae, Notodontidae). Among these, angiosperm leaf mimicry is one of the most dramatic, although the historical origins of such modifications are unclear owing to a dearth of paleontological records. Here, we report evidence of pinnate leaf mimesis in two lacewings (Neuroptera): Bellinympha filicifolia Y. Wang, Ren, Liu & Engel gen. et sp. nov. and Bellinympha dancei Y. Wang, Ren, Shih & Engel, sp. nov., from the Middle Jurassic, representing a 165-million year-old specialization between insects and contemporaneous gymnosperms of the Cycadales or Bennettitales. Furthermore, such lacewings demonstrate a preangiosperm origin for leaf mimesis, revealing a lost evolutionary scenario of interactions between insects and gymnosperms. The current fossil record suggests that this enigmatic lineage became extinct during the Early Cretaceous, apparently closely correlated with the decline of Cycadales and Bennettitales at that time, and perhaps owing to the changing floral environment resulted from the rise of flowering plants.-By the way, I am following the heated discussions on time, free will, consciousness, etc., but I'm always stumbling into this other interesting stuff that tells me Darwin is incomplete.