国际研究团队发现了一个距今3.24亿年前的昆虫新物种化石，为昆虫如何从水生环境逐步适应陆地生活提供了关键证据。这一发现于2026年8月26日发表在《自然》杂志上，由南京地质古生物研究所的蔡晨阳教授和剑桥大学的埃里克·蒂赫尔卡博士领导。1
该新物种被命名为Chosha praecursor，化石出土于美国德克萨斯州西部Marathon Uplift地区的Tesnus地层钙质粘土岩中。1这具化石身体长32.09毫米，包括中间尾丝和两个尾须时总长度达49.66毫米。1最关键的特征是其腹部第1至9节带有分节的附肢，后腹肢被改造成桨状结构，这表明该物种具有两栖特征，生活在近岸浅水三角洲沿海环境中，过着半水生的生活方式。1
这一发现填补了古生物学记录中的重要空白。该化石弥补了4.05亿年前早泥盆纪Rhynie Chert地层和晚石炭纪之间约80百万年的化石记录缺口，证明昆虫并非突然从水域跳跃到陆地，而是经历了漫长的两栖阶段，逐步演化成现代的六足昆虫。1
An international research team has discovered a fossil of a previously unknown species that sheds light on how insects transitioned from water to land. The specimen, named Chosha praecursor, dates back 324 million years and was found in calcareous shale within the Tesnus Formation of the Marathon Uplift in western Texas 1. The fossil measures 32.09 millimeters in body length, extending to 49.66 millimeters when including the median caudal filament and paired cerci 1.
The discovery is significant because Chosha praecursor retained primitive paddle-shaped appendages on its abdominal segments 1 through 9, indicating that insects underwent a gradual two-stage transition from aquatic environments rather than an abrupt shift to terrestrial life 1. The species inhabited nearshore shallow-water deltaic coastal environments, suggesting it lived a semi-aquatic lifestyle 1. This finding fills a critical gap in the fossil record spanning approximately 80 million years between the Early Devonian Rhynie Chert deposits from 405 million years ago and the Late Carboniferous period 1.
The research, led by Professor Chenyang Cai of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Dr. Erik Tihelka of Cambridge University, was published in Nature on August 26, 2026 1. The fossil provides new insight into how the body structure of modern six-legged insects evolved during this critical period in Earth's biological history 1.
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