澳大利亚阿德莱德大学Roger S. Seymour小组在研究中取得进展。他们探明了通过气管-肌肉系统供氧并不限制昆虫的巨人症。这一研究成果于2026年3月25日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》上。

在这里，研究人员发现，昆虫飞行肌中微气管所占相对空间（1）在10,000倍的体重范围内（涵盖10目44种1,320张显微图像）仅增加1.8倍；（2）在大多数物种中通常不超过1%；（3）即便将研究范围扩展至早已灭绝的巨型二叠纪似蜻蜓近亲（体重约100克），这一规律依然成立。尽管有明显的进化潜力，但它们对空间的需求较小，并且没有随着体型的增加而大幅增加气管的投入，这提供了令人信服的证据，证明通过气管-细胞系统的不同氧运输并不限制现存或巨型史前昆虫的最大体型。

大气氧含量决定了昆虫在整个进化史上最大体型这一观点，在科普文献与科学文献中都根深蒂固。30年前，《自然》杂志提出了一个假说，微气管水平的氧气扩散限制制约了昆虫的最大体型，而晚古生代大气氧浓度的升高造就了巨型昆虫。

附：英文原文

Title: Oxygen supply through the tracheolar–muscle system does not constrain insect gigantism

Author: Snelling, Edward P., Lensink, Antonia V., Clusella-Trullas, Susana, Weldon, Chris, Lehmann, Philipp, Terblanche, John S., Payne, Nicholas L., Harrison, Jon F., Hickey, Anthony J. R., Donaldson, Ashleigh, Deschodt, Christian M., Seymour, Roger S.

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-25

Abstract: The idea that atmospheric oxygen has dictated the maximum body size of insects across their evolutionary history is ingrained in popular and scientific literature1,2,3. 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 gigantism4. Here we contest this hypothesis by showing that the relative space occupied by tracheoles in the flight muscle of insects (1) increases by only 1.8-fold over a 10,000-fold body mass range (1,320 micrographs, 44 species, 10 orders), (2) is typically 1% or less in most species, and (3) that this observation holds when we extend our relationship to the long-extinct gigantic dragonfly-like Meganeuropsis permiana (approximately 100g). The small space requirement and the lack of a strong increase in tracheolar investment with body size, despite clear evolutionary potential to do so, provide convincing evidence that diffusive oxygen transport through the tracheolar–muscle system does not constrain the maximum body size of extant or gigantic prehistoric insects.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10291-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10291-3