Fossil age data and molecular sequences are increasingly combined to establish a
timescale for the Tree of Life. Arthropods, as the most species-rich and morphologically …

While Mesozoic, Paleogene, and Neogene insect faunas greatly resemble the modern one,
the Paleozoic fauna provides unique insights into key innovations in insect evolution, such …

Around 150 million years ago, eusocial termites evolved from within the cockroaches, 50
million years before eusocial Hymenoptera, such as bees and ants, appeared. Here, we …

The higher classification of termites requires substantial revision as the Neoisoptera, the
most diverse termite lineage, comprise many paraphyletic and polyphyletic higher taxa …

ABSTRACT Spiders (Order Araneae) are massively abundant generalist arthropod
predators that are found in nearly every ecosystem on the planet and have persisted for over …

Phylogenetic relationships among subgroups of cockroaches and termites are still matters of
debate. Their divergence times and major phenotypic transitions during evolution are also …

After a brief synopsis of the history of mantodean classification, a re-organized systematic
arrangement of extant praying mantids is provided. To overcome past homoplasy problems …

Termitidae comprises∼ 80% of all termite species [1] that play dominant decomposer roles
in tropical ecosystems [2, 3]. Two major events during termite evolution were the loss of …

The higher termites (Termitidae) are keystone species and ecosystem engineers. They have
exceptional biomass and play important roles in decomposition of dead plant matter, in soil …

Following the acceptance of plate tectonics theory in the latter half of the 20th century,
vicariance became the dominant explanation for the distributions of many plant and animal …