'Masters of shape-shifting': How darkling beetles conquered the world
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Large-scale genomic analysis of darkling beetles, a hyper-diverse insect group of more than 30,000 species worldwide, rolls back the curtain on a 150-million-year evolutionary tale of one of Earth's most ecologically important yet inconspicuous creatures, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU) and CSIRO.
Scientists have long been captivated by the "extraordinary" diversity of darkling beetles—tiny critters that have lived since the age of the dinosaurs—and their ability to successfully adapt to and thrive in a range of diverse and harsh environments over hundreds of millions of years.
But until now, it was not fully understood how beetles were able to evolve certain traits and abilities that allowed them to "conquer the world."
