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Peer-reviewedCC BYProceedings. Biological sciences

A giant Jurassic hunter: the earliest dipluran and its implications for hexapod body pattern evolution.

  • Yehao Wang1,2
  • Chenyang Cai1,3
  • Alba Sánchez-García4
  • Alberto Sendra5
  • Diying Huang1,3
5 affiliations
  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China.
  2. 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China.
  3. 3Nanjing College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing 211135, People's Republic of China.
  4. 4Departament de Botànica i Geologia, Facultat de Ciències Biològiques, Universitat de València , Burjassot 46100, Spain.
  5. 5Departament de Didàctica de les Ciències Experimentals i Socials, Facultat de Magisteri, Universitat de València , València 46022, Spain.
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Abstract

Hexapoda comprises the hyperdiverse insects and three cryptic, early-diverging lineages, Protura, Collembola, and Diplura, that are key to understanding the hexapod body pattern but remain extremely rare as fossils. Here, we report the earliest dipluran, Sinojapyx giganteus gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota (approx. 165 Mya). Its ectognathous mouthparts challenge the conventional view that all non‑insect hexapods are entognathous, providing solid evidence that entognathy evolved independently at least three times. The pincer‑like cerci of Sinojapyx are symmetrical and lack denticles, representing a transitional state preceding the sophisticated predatory appendages of extant japygoids. Exceeding 5 cm in body length and equipped with robust mandibles and pincer-like cerci, this giant soil dweller occupied the apex of the soil food web in the Jurassic, filling a niche typically held by scorpions or centipedes today. This discovery not only bridges a major gap in the dipluran fossil record but also offers critical insights into the ancestral body pattern of non‑insect hexapods and soil trophic networks in the Jurassic.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{wang2026giant,
  title = {{A giant Jurassic hunter: the earliest dipluran and its implications for hexapod body pattern evolution.}},
  author = {Yehao Wang and Chenyang Cai and Alba Sánchez-García and Alberto Sendra and Diying Huang},
  journal = {Proceedings. Biological sciences},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1098/rspb.2026.1207},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42838559},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A giant Jurassic hunter: the earliest dipluran and its implications for hexapod body pattern evolution.
AU  - Yehao Wang
AU  - Chenyang Cai
AU  - Alba Sánchez-García
AU  - Alberto Sendra
AU  - Diying Huang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Proceedings. Biological sciences
DO  - 10.1098/rspb.2026.1207
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42838559
AB  - Hexapoda comprises the hyperdiverse insects and three cryptic, early-diverging lineages, Protura, Collembola, and Diplura, that are key to understanding the hexapod body pattern but remain extremely rare as fossils. Here, we report the earliest dipluran, Sinojapyx giganteus gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota (approx. 165 Mya). Its ectognathous mouthparts challenge the conventional view that all non‑insect hexapods are entognathous, providing solid evidence that entognathy evolved independently at least three times. The pincer‑like cerci of Sinojapyx are symmetrical and lack denticles, representing a transitional state preceding the sophisticated predatory appendages of extant japygoids. Exceeding 5 cm in body length and equipped with robust mandibles and pincer-like cerci, this giant soil dweller occupied the apex of the soil food web in the Jurassic, filling a niche typically held by scorpions or centipedes today. This discovery not only bridges a major gap in the dipluran fossil record but also offers critical insights into the ancestral body pattern of non‑insect hexapods and soil trophic networks in the Jurassic.
SN  - 0962-8452
SN  - 1471-2954
ER  -