Integrated phylogenomic and fossil evidence of stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) reveal a Permian-Triassic co-origination with insectivores.

ABSTRACT: Stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) are a distinctive insect order whose members are characterized by mimicking various plant tissues such as twigs, foliage and bark. Unfortunately, the phylogenetic relationships among phasmatodean subfamilies and the timescale of their evolution remain uncertain. Recent molecular clock analyses have suggested a Cretaceous-Palaeogene origin of crown Phasmatodea and a subsequent Cenozoic radiation, contrasting with fossil evidence. Here, we analysed transcriptomic data from a broad diversity of phasmatodeans and, combined with the assembly of a new suite of fossil calibrations, we elucidate the evolutionary history of stick and leaf insects. Our results differ from recent studies in the position of the leaf insects (Phylliinae), which are recovered as sist

SUBMITTER: Tihelka E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7735357 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature