Incredible pictures show tiny insects that have been preserved in a precious amber stone since 20 million years ago.
The tiny creatures are believed to have roamed the Earth alongside dinosaurs and before the Ice Age three million years ago, reported the British Daily Mail newspaper on Tuesday.
Specimens from the period are rare and the scientists who were studying the landscape were not expecting to find the insects.
But they were amazed when they unearthed the almost perfectly preserved creatures in northern Peru.
“The pieces of amber contains insects Psocopter, Dipera, Coleotera, Hemiptera and spiders as well as spores and pollen fossils,” said Honningen Klaus, who led the research team from Meyer-Honningen Paleontological Museum in Peru. “We also found a drop of blood and remains of hair from a mammal rodent.”
The insects were among several other examples of animals and plants fossilized in amber at the 20 million-year-old reservoir.
Amber fossils form when insects become trapped inside the sticky sap that forms on trees. These stones may be made into expensive jewellery.
Source: The Korea Times [April 21, 2011]
The tiny creatures are believed to have roamed the Earth alongside dinosaurs and before the Ice Age three million years ago, reported the British Daily Mail newspaper on Tuesday.
Specimens from the period are rare and the scientists who were studying the landscape were not expecting to find the insects.
But they were amazed when they unearthed the almost perfectly preserved creatures in northern Peru.
“The pieces of amber contains insects Psocopter, Dipera, Coleotera, Hemiptera and spiders as well as spores and pollen fossils,” said Honningen Klaus, who led the research team from Meyer-Honningen Paleontological Museum in Peru. “We also found a drop of blood and remains of hair from a mammal rodent.”
The insects were among several other examples of animals and plants fossilized in amber at the 20 million-year-old reservoir.
Amber fossils form when insects become trapped inside the sticky sap that forms on trees. These stones may be made into expensive jewellery.
Source: The Korea Times [April 21, 2011]