Notoptera,also known asXenonomia,[1]is a clade of insects belonging toPolyneoptera.It contains two living groups,Mantophasmatidae(gladiators) native to southern Africa, andGrylloblattidae(ice crawlers) native to cold montane environments in the Northern Hemisphere. Both groups are wingless.

Notoptera
Temporal range:320–0MaLate Carboniferous-Present
Mantophasma zephyra(Mantophasmatidae)
Member ofGrylloblattidae
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Cohort: Polyneoptera
Superorder: Notoptera
Crampton, 1915
Orders & families
Synonyms

XenonomiaTerry & Whiting, 2005

History of research

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The name was originally coined in 1915 for a group of fossilorthopteroids,and largely forgotten until it was resurrected and redefined ( "Notoptera Cramptonsensu novum") by Engel and Grimaldi in 2004 (after the discovery of livingMantophasmatidae), who recommended to give a single order that includes both the living and fossil representatives of the lineage.[2]

Terry and Whiting in 2005 independently proposed a new name, "Xenonomia", for the same lineage ofinsects(including theGrylloblattodeaandMantophasmatodea,treated as orders).[3]Some authors consider this the valid name of the group.[1]

Evolutionary history

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The earliest stem-representatives of the group had emerged by theLate Carboniferous,around 320 million years ago. Early members of the group, which unlike modern notopterans had wings, have been referred to as members of "Grylloblattida" and "Reculida", with their relationships to modern notopterans historically being the subject of controversy. Winged "grylloblattidans" reached their apex of diversity during thePermian(299-252 million years ago), where they represented up to a third of all insects at some localities.[1]The earliest mantophasmatids are known from theMiddle Jurassic,around 160 million years ago.[4]No fossil record of modern grylloblattids is known, though the wingedAristoviaknown from theBurmese amberof Myanmar dating to the mid-Cretaceousaround 100 million years ago, has mouthparts very similar to modern grylloblattids, indicating its close relationship to modern grylloblattids. Mantophasmatids and grylloblattids are thought to have lost their wings independently. Winged "grylloblattidans" declined in diversity and abundance from the Triassic onwards, with the youngest records of winged "grylloblattidans" dating to the Early-mid Cretaceous.[1]

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See also

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Further reading

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  • Ando H. 1982.Biology of the Notoptera.Kashiyo-Insatsu Co. Ltd., Nagano, Japan.

References

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  1. ^abcdCui, Yingying; Bardin, Jérémie; Wipfler, Benjamin; Demers‐Potvin, Alexandre; Bai, Ming; Tong, Yi‐Jie; Chen, Grace Nuoxi; Chen, Huarong; Zhao, Zhen‐Ya; Ren, Dong; Béthoux, Olivier (2024-03-07)."A winged relative of ice‐crawlers in amber bridges the cryptic extant Xenonomia and a rich fossil record".Insect Science.doi:10.1111/1744-7917.13338.ISSN1672-9609.
  2. ^Engel, Michael S.; Grimaldi, David A. (2004)."A New Rock Crawler in Baltic Amber, with Comments on the Order(Mantophasmatodea: Mantophasmatidae)".American Museum Novitates(3431). American Museum of Natural History (BioOne sponsored): 1–12.doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2004)431<0001:anrcib>2.0.co;2.ISSN0003-0082.S2CID85653533.
  3. ^Terry, Matthew D.; Whiting, Michael F. (2005)."Mantophasmatodea and phylogeny of the lower neopterous insects".Cladistics.21(3). Wiley: 240–257.doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2005.00062.x.ISSN0748-3007.S2CID86259809.
  4. ^Huang, Di-ying; Nel, André; Zompro, Oliver; Waller, Alain (2008-06-11)."Mantophasmatodea now in the Jurassic".Naturwissenschaften.95(10): 947–952.doi:10.1007/s00114-008-0412-x.ISSN0028-1042.PMID18545982.S2CID35408984.
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