Three truths
- Timed
- Began about 480 million years ago · the last 11% of life's story
- Named
- ≈870,000 named living species · 50% of all named
- Weighed
- Part of Arthropods (≈1 Gt C), not measured separately.
Eukaryotes · animals · class
Insects
Insecta
Living · roughly 870,000 described species
Six-legged arthropods, and the most diverse group of animals known. Insects were the first animals to fly.
Key characteristics
- Three body parts and six legs
- Most adults have wings
- Many change form completely as they grow
- Branched off
- About 510 million years ago (approximate)
- Parent lineage
- Pancrustaceans
Child lineages
Classification
Sources
- Insect (Wikipedia) · Wikipedia
- TimeTree: the timescale of life · TimeTree
- Open Tree of Life · Open Tree of Life
- Tree of Life Web Project · Tree of Life Web Project