News & Events

Early winged insects developed from terrestrial ancestor

16.01.2019

Phylogenomic analyses shows group of winged insects developed from terrestrial ancestor.

An international team of researchers with participation of Harald Letsch, from the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research has found evidence that shows that many modern winged insects developed from a terrestrial ancestor, not from one that lived in the sea. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describe their large-scale phylogenomic analyses of both Polyneoptera and Pterygota and what they found. [read more]

Wipfler, Letsch, Frandsen et. al. (2019): Evolutionary history of Polyneoptera and its implications for our understanding of early winged insects. Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

Polyneoptera Modell (c) H. Letsch, Universität Wien