title: Paleozoic Nymphal Wing Pads Support Dual Model of Insect Wing Origins.
abstract: The appearance of wings in insects, early in their evolution [1], has been one of the more critical innovations contributing to their extraordinary diversity. Despite the conspicuousness and importance of wings, the origin of these structures has been difficult to resolve and represented one of the "abominable mysteries" in evolutionary biology [2]. More than a century of debate has boiled the matter down to two competing alternatives-one of wings representing an extension of the thoracic notum, the other stating that they are appendicular derivations from the lateral body wall. Recently, a dual model has been supported by genomic and developmental data [3-6], representing an amalgamation of elements from both the notal and pleural hypotheses. Here, we reveal crucial information from the wing pad joints of Carboniferous palaeodictyopteran insect nymphs using classical and high-tech techniques. These nymphs had three pairs of wing pads that were medially articulated to the thorax but also broadly contiguous with the notum anteriorly and posteriorly (details unobservable in modern insects), supporting their overall origin from the thoracic notum as well as the expected medial, pleural series of axillary sclerites. Our study provides support for the formation of the insect wing from the thoracic notum as well as the already known pleural elements of the arthropodan leg. These results support the unique, dual model for insect wing origins and the convergent reduction of notal fusion in more derived clades, presumably due to wing rotation during development, and they help to bring resolution to this long-standing debate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic. Electronic address: jprokop@natur.cuni.cz.
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prokop
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pecharová
authors.affiliation: Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB - UMR 7205 - CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 Rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nel
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hörnschemeyer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Sławkowska 17, 31-016 Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krzemińska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University of Kraków, Podbrzezie 3, 31-054 Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Wiesław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Krzemiński
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive, Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Engel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005580:Fossils; D007313:Insecta / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development; D009758:Nymph / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Carboniferous; Insecta; Late Paleozoic; Palaeodictyoptera; Pterygota; origin of insect wings; wing pad articulation; wing pad postembryonic development; wing pad tracheation