Science & Evolution
Understanding prehistoric insects requires knowledge of how fossils form, how scientists study them, and the evolutionary processes that shaped insect diversity over hundreds of millions of years. The pages in this section cover the science behind prehistoric insect research, from fossilization and laboratory techniques to the major evolutionary innovations and ecological relationships that defined insect history.
- How Insects FossilizeCompression, amber, chert, and trace fossils: the different ways insects are preserved.
- Oxygen and GigantismWhy Carboniferous insects grew to enormous sizes, and what limited them.
- The Evolution of Insect FlightHow insects became the first animals to fly.
- Complete Metamorphosis: OriginsWhen and why holometaboly evolved.
- Insect-Plant Co-EvolutionPollination, herbivory, and deep-time relationships.
- Mass Extinctions and InsectsHow insects survived (or didn't) the Big Five.
- How Paleontologists Study Fossil InsectsTools, imaging, and CT scanning of amber.
- Amber as a Time CapsuleThe science of resin preservation.
- From Ancient to ModernTracing lineages from prehistoric to living species.
- Prehistoric Insect Size ComparisonVisual reference: modern vs. ancient insect scale.