THE idea that all six-legged animals are insects has been turned on its head, along with the theory that all such creatures evolved from a common ancestor. Flightless springtails are actually more closely related to crustaceans such as the hermit crab and brine shrimp than to insects such as locusts.
An analysis of mitochondrial DNA from different members of the phylum Arthropoda implies that springtails, known as Collembola, and insects both evolved similar features, but in fact crawled out of the water separately, hundreds of millions of years ago, rather than stemming from a more recent common ancestor.
Insects, springtails…
