Sono lunghi fra 2 millimetri e 2 centimetri e mezzo i 248 insetti fossili risalenti a 239 milioni di anni fa che sono venuti alla luce durante le campagne di scavo paleontologiche sul Monte San Giorgio, condotte dal Museo di storia naturale in collaborazione con ricercatori di Napoli tra il 2020 e il 2023 lungo il torrente Gaggiolo nei pressi di Meride. Dell’eccezionale ritrovamento parla un articolo appena pubblicato sulla rivista scientifica “Communication Biology”.
Lo scavo di Meride nel 2013
Questa minuscola fauna estremamente ben conservata malgrado le ridotte dimensioni - si legge in un comunicato di giovedì - permetterà di fare luce sull’evoluzione di alcuni gruppi di insetti a seguito dell’estinzione di massa verificatasi alla fine del Permiano: circa 251 milioni di anni fa scomparve l’80% delle specie allora presenti sulla Terra.
Da segnalare il ritrovamento della più antica vespa finora scoperta e di una femmina di blattoideo con gli organi riproduttivi. La forma tondeggiante sull’addome di esemplari di dittero potrebbe essere la prima evidenza di un coinvolgimento degli insetti nell’impollinazione.
100 anni di scavi sul San Giorgio
Alphaville 22.07.2024, 11:00
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