Singing insect relatives of modern katydids broadcast ultrasonic mating calls in forest habitats during the Middle Jurassic period. Scientists long assumed that insects developed ultrasonic songs only after echolocating bats emerged as aerial predators millions of years later during the Eocene epoch. Instead, ancient ensiferan insects generated ultrasound by rubbing specialized tooth-lined wing files against rigid scrapers to vibrate their stiff forewing cuticle.
Evolution & Organismal Biology
Cells, genes, organisms, evolution, and the machinery of living things.