Matting in Springtails, an arthropod group close to insects, existed 105 million years ago

A scientific team found out the first evidence of courtship in Springtail fossil records ─these are small hexapod arthropods without wings, close to insects─ from 105 million years ago. The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, provides information on the oldest evidence of aggregative behaviours of these hexapods, which are present in most of the terrestrial ecosystems.

 

The authors of this study are the experts Alba Sánchez and Xavier Delclòs, from the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona; Enrique Peñalver, from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME), and Michael S. Engel, from the University of Kansas (United States).

Hexapods ─a subphylum from arthropods which also includes insects─ are the organisms that display a higher diversity of matting and social behaviours. However, there is not much direct or indirect evidence of these behaviours in fossil records.

In the new study, the scientific team noted two of the behaviours which are also seen in current types of two extinct Springtail species. These new findings are based on the analysis of several pieces from the Cretaceous amber site in Peñacerrada (Spain), which is known worldwide regarding the study of fossils from the Mesozoic era.

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