All articles tagged with #griffinflies
Meganeuropsis permiana and other griffinflies reached wingspans over 70 cm in an oxygen-rich Late Carboniferous–Early Permian atmosphere, but recent research suggests insect size was shaped by multiple factors—oxygen delivery, flight mechanics, and ultimately predation by birds and other aerial predators— meaning the giant-insect era ended as skies filled with competitors and oxygen levels shifted.
A new Nature study suggests that the long-held view that atmospheric oxygen alone drove the enormous size of prehistoric flying insects like griffinflies isn’t supported by their data; researchers found tracheoles occupy only about 1% of flight muscle across sizes, implying oxygen delivery wasn’t the hard limit on size. The findings shift the question to other factors—ecology, predators, and biomechanics of an external skeleton—though the exact reason giant insects existed and disappeared remains unclear.
A new study challenges the long-held view that high atmospheric oxygen powered giant prehistoric insects like griffinflies, showing that flying insects’ internal tracheal systems can supply oxygen to flight muscles, which could allow large sizes even today; if confirmed, this suggests oxygen levels were not the limiting factor, though researchers note other causes may explain why such giants disappeared.
New research shows the griffinflies’ huge wingspan was not limited by their respiratory system, meaning they could likely fly in today’s air; extinction probably stemmed from factors other than oxygen availability, with large species historically more extinction-prone and griffinflies lacking bird or mammal predators at the time.