A new study from the University of Bristol, published in the journal Palaeoentomology, focused on the largest available molecular database. It was further analyzed using new statistical methods, which included more sophisticated algorithms. The aim of the study was to test all proposed hypotheses about placing fleas on the insect life tree. However, it also revealed a few new relationships.
New relationship established
According to the authors of the study, it was discovered that berries are technically like scorpionflies. This publication completely rejected all notions of being in a flea. According to the study, the species developed when they began feeding on vertebrate blood sometime between the Permian and Jurassic, which was somewhere between 290 and 165 million years ago. The study’s lead author, Erik Tihelka from the School of Earth Sciences, said, “Of all the parasites in the animal kingdom, berries have a special place. The Black Death, caused by a flea-transmitted bacterium, was the deadliest pandemic in recorded human history; it claimed the lives of up to 200 million people in the 14th century ”. She said, “But despite their medical importance, the placement of fleas on the tree of life represents one of the most enduring enigmas in the evolution of insects”.
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It was also found that the closest relatives of berries are members of the scorpionfly family Nannochoristidae. This is a rare group of only seven native species in the southern hemisphere. Also, nannochoristid adult scorpionflies peacefully eat nectar.
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Bristol University PhD student Mattia Giacomelli, who said, “It seems that the long mouth groups that are specialized in feeding nectar from flowers can be co-opted during evolution. to draw blood ”. As in previous studies, a link has been established between berries and scorpionflies. However, the exact same relationship has never been established. Chenyang Cai, an associate professor at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGP) and a researcher at Bristol University specializing in Mesozoic insects, said, “The new findings indicate that we may need to re- examine our entomology textbooks. Buzzards are no longer eligible for individual insect order status, but should be classified within scorpionflies flies ”.
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(Image credits: RepresentativeImage / Unsplash)
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