Scientists reconstruct Jurassic insect sounds using fossils

An international team of scientists has reconstructed the acoustic landscape of Jurassic forests from 165 million years ago. By analyzing 20 fossilized wings from nine species of ensiferan insects, researchers were able to recreate the calls of ancestors to modern crickets and grasshoppers.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), utilized fossils found in the Jiulongshan Formation in Inner Mongolia, China. The reconstruction focused on the mechanism of stridulation, where an insect rubs a structure with small ridges or ‘teeth’ against a scraper on another wing.

The findings suggest that Jurassic ecosystems possessed a complex acoustic ‘orchestra,’ with some insect calls reaching ultrasonic frequencies.