300 million years ago, the world was a very different place. Besides the severe geological changes and the sudden appearance of invertebrates, the Paleozoic Era was host to a severe change in atmospheric composition – namely the extreme increase of oxygen levels, and a drastic drop of carbon dioxide. The atmosphere, changing so radically, caused one or two ice ages, a few extinctions, and a natural development of what we today would consider very strange creatures indeed.

Scientists today, curious about (or perhaps inspired by) the fossils of dragonflies with 2-foot wingspans that zipped and zoomed (or whooshed, rather) through the Paleozoic skies, have been conducting experiments on the effects of atmospheric oxygen levels on short-term adaptation in a variety of insects.  In late 2010, results were produced – on a large scale.