Oldest fossil insect

'This is an extraordinary fossil, not just because it is the earliest insect known, but because the structure of its jaws is similar to flying insects today, suggesting an early origin of flight.'
Claire Mellish, Curator of Palaeoarthropods

At 410 million years old, Rhyniognatha hirsti is the world's oldest known insect. Insects probably evolved around 80 million years earlier, when plants were colonising the land for the first time.

This fossil is one of the earliest land-dwelling arthropods, a group that includes insects, spiders and millipedes. It provides a unique insight into a time of major change in ecological diversity and animal physiology.

Insects are thought to have evolved from crustaceans. They were the first animals to develop flight, allowing them to adapt and diversify during times of global climate change. Insects are now the most species-rich group of animals on Earth.

The R. hirsti insect is preserved inside a piece of Rhynie chert, a glass-like Scottish rock that contains exceptionally preserved fossils. Found near the village of Rhynie in Aberdeenshire, the Rhynie chert fossils offer a window into past at a time when the first plants and animals were making the leap onto land.

A flurry of scientific activity accompanied the first discovery of Rhynie chert fossils between 1910 and 1913. Since then, further collecting and analysis have revealed a diverse range of fossils, including primitive plants, algae, fungi, lichen and arthropods. As scientists apply the latest imaging techniques, genetic analyses and understanding to Rhynie chert specimens, we are learning more about the diversity of early life on land and how organisms interacted with each other.

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