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Entomologists have been intrigued
by Mastotermes
electrodominicus
because it shares anatomical
similarities with cockroaches,
leading to the theory that
Mastotermes was the missing
evolutionary link between
termites and cockroaches.
In 1992, a team of Museum
scientists sampled DNA from
a specimen of Mastotermes
similar to the one pictured here
and learned that cockroaches and
Mastotermes have a common
ancestor that's much older than
the ancestor that gave rise to
Mastotermes and its
termite relatives.
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