According to a new study, cockroaches had a common ancestor sometime during the Triassic Period, putting emphasis on the hypothesis that they were present even before the continents formed and split.
Scientists say that they originated in the great primordial land of Pangaea over 300 million years ago.
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What did the study reveal?
- According to the fossil records, the present-day cockroach ancestors were present on the planet's surface even around 125 to 140 million years ago
- Back then, the dry land on the planet was glued together in a single mass called the Pangaea supercontinent. The cockroaches were believed to occupy a lot of land
- As the supercontinent started breaking into smaller sections, forming the continental plates we know today, the descendants of these early cockroaches moved with them
- This resulted in them populating the newly broken up islands with almost the same efficiency with which they populate the plates
How researchers estimated the time of cockroach evolution
A team of researchers has used samples which were taken from specimens representing 119 living cockroach species to estimate the time of evolution of today's population.
What was the result?
- According to the lead author Thomas Bourguignon, the results indicate that extant cockroach families have evolved over periods of up to about 180 million years
- Based on this, they estimated that over 4,500 species of today's cockroaches shared a common ancestor about 235 million years ago
- The study shows the importance of continental drift in shaping modern insect distribution and will provide a new framework for future cockroach bio-geographical research
Interestingly, according to a fossil found in Ohio, some 300 million years ago, cockroaches were about 3.5 inches long. Some tropical roaches living today can reach sizes like that, though most are smaller.
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