The early evolution of twig mimicry within Phasmatodea. (IMAGE)

Science China Press

The early evolution of twig mimicry within Phasmatodea.

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Several stick insect fossils from the Mesozoic: (a) Adjacivena grossa sp. nov. and (b) Ambrotophasma vetulum gen. et sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China (~165 Ma); (c) Elasmophasma longitubus sp. nov. from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, northern Myanmar (~99 Ma); (d) The evolutionary scenario for the phenomenon of twig mimicry in Phasmatodea; (e-h) The changes in thoracic morphology in different representative groups of stick insects; (i) Hypothetical evolutionary mode for thorax evolution, with proportional length transitions among the pro-, meso-, and metathorax.

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