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How long have Orthoptera existed in the fossil record?
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Orthoptera
A colorful meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) on a wooden fence.
The evolutionary history of the order Orthoptera is deeply rooted in the fossil record. While the suborder Ensifera is documented from the Triassic period to the present, evidence suggests that the two primary suborders, Ensifera and Caelifera, had already diverged as distinct evolutionary lines as early as the Carboniferous period.1