Oxygen supply through the tracheolar–muscle system does not constrain insect gigantism | Nature

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New evidence suggests that diffusive oxygen transport through the tracheolar–muscle system is not the limiting factor on insect body size.

Subjects Animal physiology Entomology Evolutionary theory Palaeontology Abstract The idea that atmospheric oxygen has dictated the maximum body size of insects across their evolutionary history is ingrained in popular and scientific literature 1 , 2 , 3 . In Nature 30 years ago, the hypothesis was put forward that a limitation on oxygen diffusion at the level of the tracheoles constrains the maximum body size of insects and that increased atmospheric oxygen concentration in the late Palaeozoic permitted insect gigantism 4 . Here we contest this hypothesis by showing that the relative space occ

Oxygen supply through the tracheolar–muscle system does not constrain insect gigantism | Nature

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