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When did Ensifera and Caelifera become separate evolutionary lines?
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Orthoptera
A colorful meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) on a wooden fence.
Evidence suggests that Ensifera and Caelifera separated as distinct evolutionary lines as early as the Carboniferous Period. While Ensifera fossils are known to occur from the Triassic Period to the present, the divergence of these two suborders marks a significant point in the evolutionary history of the Orthoptera order.1