Ian
priscilla 1Insects in Amber
May 3rd 2010 23:39
Amber is fossilised tree resin (not sap), which is appreciated for its colour and natural beauty. Good quality amber is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewellery.
Amber is formed when tree resin is subjected to high pressures and temperatures over time.
Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes includes animal and plant material as inclusions. As made famous in the movie Jurassic Park, insects found in amber can be tens of millions years old.
In Ethiopia an exciting discovery has recently been made. The first amber in Africa containing insects has been uncovered. The fossilised insects within it are in excellent condition and date back up to 95 million years ago when these types of insects were first appearing on Earth.
To read more on the find, visit these articles at National Geographic and Discovery.com.
Although the Cretaceous insects, ranging in size from .02 to .2 inches long, lived when dinosaurs were still around, at first glance they look like something tiny you'd find crawling or flying in your kitchen today.
"On a first approach, the fossil insects and spiders found in this amber are strikingly similar in aspect to their extant relatives," co-author Vincent Perrichot told Discovery News.
"But after a thorough examination, they can be distinguished based on some morphological differences," added Perrichot, a post-doctoral associate in palaeontology at the University of Kansas Palaeontological Institute and a researcher at the University of Rennes.
"Mostly these fossils show a combination of characters, primitive or advanced, which still exist today, but are found only in separate species."
This tiny wasp, is one of the earliest known parasitic species—known for laying their eggs in the grubs of other insects, such as moths and beetles, which then get eaten from the inside out when the young wasps hatch.
Measuring just 0.4 millimeter long, this immaculately preserved wasp is among the variety of amber-encased bugs from the dino-era African forest. Other finds from the site in what is now Ethiopia include a rare web-weaving fossil spider (see below) and one of the world's oldest ants.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the WIkipedia page for Amber.
The discovery
Amber is formed when tree resin is subjected to high pressures and temperatures over time.
Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes includes animal and plant material as inclusions. As made famous in the movie Jurassic Park, insects found in amber can be tens of millions years old.
In Ethiopia an exciting discovery has recently been made. The first amber in Africa containing insects has been uncovered. The fossilised insects within it are in excellent condition and date back up to 95 million years ago when these types of insects were first appearing on Earth.
To read more on the find, visit these articles at National Geographic and Discovery.com.
Ancient Thunder Fly
"On a first approach, the fossil insects and spiders found in this amber are strikingly similar in aspect to their extant relatives," co-author Vincent Perrichot told Discovery News.
"But after a thorough examination, they can be distinguished based on some morphological differences," added Perrichot, a post-doctoral associate in palaeontology at the University of Kansas Palaeontological Institute and a researcher at the University of Rennes.
"Mostly these fossils show a combination of characters, primitive or advanced, which still exist today, but are found only in separate species."
Parasite Wasp
Immaculate Wasp
Second oldest spider specimen ever discovered.
*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the WIkipedia page for Amber.
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