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Article: Scientists upset insect orthodoxies. (insect diversity preceded angiosperm diversity)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 17, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A new study on insect evolution has set scientists buzzing. Its findings challenge the conventional wisdom that insect diversity exploded about 125 million years ago in response to the rapid spread of flowering plants. "This is going to be a hotly discussed paper, the opening shot in a good contention," asserts Leo J. Hickey, a paleobotanist at Yale University
Insect diversity preceded that of flowering plants, called angiosperms, by 120 million years, according to the report. In fact, "insects may have spurred angiosperm diversity rather than the other way around," says coauthor Conrad C. Labandeira, a paleoentomologist at the Smithsonian Institution in ...