由于缺少氧气，翼展达75厘米的蜻蜓等巨型昆虫在数百万年前灭亡，正是充足的氧气让它们长得这么大
研究人员主要着眼于石蝇，这种昆虫直接从水里获取氧气，而水体里的氧气比空气里少得多
北京时间11月30日消息，一项最新研究称，数百万年前巨型飞行昆虫的出现和衰落，可能与在水中呼吸的它们的幼虫能够获得的氧气量有关。
科学家研究了巨型昆虫（其中包括翼展将近1米的蜻蜓）体型更小的现代后裔，认为他们通过观察生活在水里的这些昆虫的幼虫，已经揭开困扰专家100多年的一个谜团。他们相信，3亿年前的巨型昆虫幼虫就是凭借比现在更高水平的氧气，长到像古生物学家发现的化石遗体那么大。稍后气候发生变化，氧气水平下降，巨型昆虫的幼虫因无法获得充足氧气，而大量死亡，这导致这些生物最终走向灭亡，只剩下体型相对较小的近亲。
英国普利茅斯大学海洋学与工程学院的大卫-比尔顿博士参与了这项研究，他说：“史前时期，更高水平的氧气通过对它们的幼虫产生影响，可能助长了巨型昆虫的进化，很多已经灭绝的庞然大物都要经历水栖幼虫阶段，这可能并非偶然。”该研究成果发表在《PLoS综合》上，比尔顿及其联合论文作者威尔克-威尔伯克在文章中指出，水栖昆虫幼虫对氧气水平的起伏波动，比在空中呼吸的陆栖成虫更敏感。
尽管以前科学家也曾提出氧气水平同巨型昆虫之间有联系，但是并没有人提供可以证明它们之间是如何联系在一起的确凿证据。该研究主要着眼于石蝇，它称，蜻蜓、石蝇和蜉蝣等水栖幼虫直接从水里获得氧气，而水体里的氧气远比空气里的少。而且幼虫从水里获取氧气的效率也远比在空中呼吸的成虫更低。科学家称，因此它们可能对可用氧气的变化更敏感，氧气塑造昆虫体型大小的作用，或许对水栖幼虫尤为重要，它决定了昆虫身体生长的上限。
巨型昆虫是涉及到遥远过去的科幻故事里的一大特色，以巨型蜻蜓为特写的迈克尔-克瑞奇顿的小说《侏罗纪公园》，产生了票房收入高达数百万美元的电影巨制。科学家认为，记录显示翼展长达75厘米的这种巨型昆虫，生活在大约3.54亿到2.9亿年前的石炭纪时期。威尔伯克说：“迄今为止，了解生活在过去的巨型昆虫的尝试，主要是通过观察（化石）陆栖成虫来实现。而我们的工作表明，通过幼虫解决史前巨人症的问题，或许有助于我们更好地了解氧气是如何限制昆虫的身体大小的。”（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022610
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Can Oxygen Set Thermal Limits in an Insect and Drive Gigantism?
Wilco C. E. P. Verberk*, David T. Bilton
Background Thermal limits may arise through a mismatch between oxygen supply and demand in a range of animal taxa. Whilst this oxygen limitation hypothesis is supported by data from a range of marine fish and invertebrates, its generality remains contentious. In particular, it is unclear whether oxygen limitation determines thermal extremes in tracheated arthropods, where oxygen limitation may be unlikely due to the efficiency and plasticity of tracheal systems in supplying oxygen directly to metabolically active tissues. Although terrestrial taxa with open tracheal systems may not be prone to oxygen limitation, species may be affected during other life-history stages, particularly if these rely on diffusion into closed tracheal systems. Furthermore, a central role for oxygen limitation in insects is envisaged within a parallel line of research focussing on insect gigantism in the late Palaeozoic. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we examine thermal maxima in the aquatic life stages of an insect at normoxia, hypoxia (14 kPa) and hyperoxia (36 kPa). We demonstrate that upper thermal limits do indeed respond to external oxygen supply in the aquatic life stages of the stonefly Dinocras cephalotes, suggesting that the critical thermal limits of such aquatic larvae are set by oxygen limitation. This could result from impeded oxygen delivery, or limited oxygen regulatory capacity, both of which have implications for our understanding of the limits to insect body size and how these are influenced by atmospheric oxygen levels. Conclusions/Significance These findings extend the generality of the hypothesis of oxygen limitation of thermal tolerance, suggest that oxygen constraints on body size may be stronger in aquatic environments, and that oxygen toxicity may have actively selected for gigantism in the aquatic stages of Carboniferous arthropods.
