Paddle-Limbed Insect Fossil Indicates Slow Water-to-Land Transition
A 324‑million‑year‑old fossil from Texas, Chosha praecursor, reveals a stem insect with 24 legs (including paddle-like abdominal limbs), suggesting early hexapods spent a prolonged amphibious phase between water and land rather than making a single leap to terrestrial life; the discovery, found in the Tesnus Formation, helps fill an 80‑million‑year gap in the hexapod fossil record and supports a gradual evolutionary transition.