Re: insects at K/T boundary

["N. MacLeod" <N.MacLeod@xxxxxxxxx>]

The only explicit study of insects across the K-T boundary of which I am
aware is that of Conrad Labandierra...

Labandiera, C. C., 1992. Diets, diversity, and disparity: Determining the
effect of the terminal Cretaceous extinction on insect evolution. Fifth
North American Paleontological Convention, Abstracts with Programs, Special
Publication of the Paleontological Society, 6, 174.

Unfortunately, this is only an abstract of a talk given at the Chicago NAPC
meeting. However, Conrad observes that:

1.) "Insects were not dramatically affected by the terminal Cretaceous
extinction."

2.) "There is no indication of the extinction of major leaf-mining,
wood-boring, pollinating, or other plant-specific behaviors at the end of
the Cretaceous."

3.) "Of the insect 30 mouthpart classes present in the Paleogene, 28 are
represented during the Cretaceous."

Conrad concludes, "These results are consistent with a gradual and not
catastrophic change in terrestrial floras (and insect faunas) across the
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary."

Norm MacLeod



>Dear Paleonetters,
>
>while watching a new show on the evolution of life, from an excellent
>Japanese TV series (thank you Japan !), my wife rose the question on the
>reaction of insects on the K/T boundary event. Given that many insects live
>very closely related to plants they should have suffered a lot if the plant
>life was largely eliminated during an impact (by fire, years long winter
>conditions, acid rain, etc.). When the destruction of flora reduced the
>food supply to dinosaurs and caused (among other factors) the extinction of
>these popular animals, shouldn't we expect a similar effect on insects? Or
>can they hibernate for a couple of years and, therefore, survive a major
>catastrophe?
>
>What is the present knowledge on abundance and evolution of insects across
>the K/T boundary? Are some insects a "model organisms" that could provide
>data to test for faunal extinction scenarios related to destruction of the
>flora?
>
>Looking forward to the discussion (and being sorry for limited knowledge on
>evolution of insects).
>
>Heinz Hilbrecht
>
>
>
>Address:
>
>Dr. Heinz Hilbrecht
>Geological Institute
>ETH Zentrum
>Sonneggstr. 5
>CH-8092 Zuerich
>Switzerland
>
>++41-1-6323676 (phone)
>++41-1-6321080 (fax)
>Hilbrecht@erdw.ethz.ch
>http://www.erdw.ethz.ch/~heinz/welcome.html




___________________________________________________________________

Dr. Norman MacLeod
Micropalaeontological Research
N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk (E-mail)

Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

Office Phone: 0171-938-9006
Dept. FAX: 0171-938-9277
E-mail: N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk
___________________________________________________________________