Insect flight represents a key evolutionary innovation, yet the impact of mass extinctions on wing evolution remains unclear. We reconstruct wing shape evolution in Permopsocida (Carboniferous–Cretaceous) based on morphometric approaches. The present study reveals a tri-phasic pattern: pre-extinction expansion, end-Permian bottleneck and post-extinction redirection. Despite opportunities in the Mesozoic, structurally conservative features constrained aerodynamic innovation. During the Jurassic-Cretaceous period, wings elongated convergently as compensatory adaptations, not as functional breakthroughs. Morphological disparity recovery lagged behind and was decoupled from early angiosperm radiation but synchronized with gymnosperm diversity. These findings demonstrate how extinction-induced structural constraints redirected evolution through compensatory adaptation.
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