Digging Up Insect Fossils

Digging Up Insect Fossils — page 1 — THE INSECT WORLD Have you ever watched a line of ants marching along Have you seen a butterfly floating around a flower Then you know how amazing insects are There are about a million kinds of insects that we know of- and lots more that we haven't met yet Explore More THE INSECTS WITH THE MOST SPECIES INCLUDE BEETLES BUTTERFLIES ANTS BEES AND FLIES 4

Digging Up Insect Fossils — page 2 — DRAGONFLIES HAVE EXISTED FOR ABOUT 300 MILLION YEARS SCIENTISTS LEARN ABOUT ANCIENT DRAGONFLIES FROM FOSSILS LIKE THE ONE TO THE LEFT Insects have been around for a very long time Many lived even before the dinosaurs came along How do we know this The answer is fossils Scientists study fossils in order to learn more about how insects have evolved or changed over millions of years 5

Digging Up Insect Fossils — page 3 — ANCIENT INSECTS A fossil is what is left from a plant or animal that lived thousands or millions of years ago The oldest insect fossils are about 400 million years old Scientists have found fossils of flies dragonflies grasshoppers and many other insects These fossils show that some insects used to be much bigger than they are now Ancient dragonflies had a wingspan of almost 20 inches 51 cm THIS FOSSIL BELONGS TO AN INSECT THAT IS NOW EXTINCT SCIENTISTS BELIEVE ITS LONG LEGS MAY HAVE BEEN USED TO MOVE ACROSS WATER 6

Digging Up Insect Fossils — page 4 — Fossilized butterflies and moths have been found all over the world Butterfly fossils aren't common but the marks left by ancient butterflies look much like the beautiful insects we know today MOTH FOSSIL Explore More INSECTS ARE PART OF A LARGER ANIMAL GROUP CALLED ARTHROPODS 7

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