Posted on 11/22/2007 8:27:40 AM PST by ricks_place
For the giant insects that roamed Earth 300 million years ago, there was something special in the air.
A higher concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere let dragonflies sometimes grow to the size of hawks, and some millipede-like bugs reached some six feet (two meters) in length, a new study suggests. (Related: "Dragonflies Migrate Like Birds, Study Says" [May 10, 2006].)
Now that the proportion of oxygen has decreased, however, bugs can't grow much larger than they do now, the authors write.
The reason: The bigger an insect, the bigger the proportion of its body devoted to its tracheal system, which functions like a lung but is far less efficient at large sizes.
"[The tracheal system] explains why they are small," said study co-author Jon Harrison, a professor of environmental physiology at Arizona State University. "It takes up all the room."
The study appears this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
OR Texas. It's little known but we have a rodeo pro circuit for cockroach riding.
A Witch once turned me into a newt...I got better.
LOL
In this case, not at all. Anything older than 50K years old doesn't have enough C14 left to reliably measure.
LOL!! I’d just heard that name for ‘em this week. Never heard of the things called palmetto whatevers. They’re friggin’ HUGH!
Sweeet!
Now my plan for success will truly succeed.
Next year, when the praying mantids are hatching, I’ll get some O2 tanks.
Chain the six-foot monsters to my conservative signs in my yard to guard ‘em while I’m at work.
(Might take care of the stray cat issues in the neighborhood as well....)
~~ AGW™ ping~~
“Giant Bugs a Thing of the Past”
Clearly, they’ve never rented in Philadelphia.
Scientists find fossil of enormous bug
AP via YAHOO! | 11-20-07 | THOMAS WAGNER
Posted on 11/20/2007 10:45:12 PM EST by Pharmboy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1928675/posts
Scientists Uncover Fossil of Biggest Bug Ever at 8 Feet Long
Fox News | 11-21-07
Posted on 11/21/2007 1:36:51 PM EST by Renfield
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1928960/posts
390-million-year-old scorpion fossil — biggest bug known
Eurekalert! | 11/21/07 | Janet Rettig Emanuel
Posted on 11/21/2007 5:29:48 PM EST by Teflonic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929079/posts
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Note: this topic is from November 2007. |
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