New insects feeding on dinosaur feathers in mid-Cretaceous amber

Taiping Gao; Xiangchu Yin; Chungkun Shih; Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn; Xing Xu; Sha Chen; Chen Wang; Dong Ren

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13516-4

Nature Communications (Dec 2019)

New insects feeding on dinosaur feathers in mid-Cretaceous amber

Taiping Gao,
Xiangchu Yin,
Chungkun Shih,
Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn,
Xing Xu,
Sha Chen,
Chen Wang,
Dong Ren

Affiliations

Taiping Gao: College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University
Xiangchu Yin: Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chungkun Shih: College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University
Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn: A. A. Borissiak Palaeontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
Xing Xu: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sha Chen: College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University
Chen Wang: School of Health Administration and Education, Capital Medical University
Dong Ren: College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13516-4
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Numerous feathered dinosaurs and early birds have been discovered from the Jurassic and Cretaceous, but the early evolution of feather-feeding insects is not clear. Here, Gao et al. describe a new family of ectoparasitic insects from 10 specimens found associated with feathers in mid-Cretaceous amber.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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