99-Million-Year Old Beetle Fossil Found in Amber, World's Earliest Insect Pollinator Discovered From Myanmar
Belonging to the time of the Cretaceous when the dinosaurs T-rex were roaming the earth, the creature was existent crawling over the pants and flowers. It is, in fact, the world's earliest known pollinator.
There are a lot of questions still being answered about the Earth's earliest beings, right when the planet was being formed. An amber fossil preserving a 99-million-year old beetle bug has been discovered. Belonging to the time of the Cretaceous when the dinosaurs T-rex were roaming the earth, the creature was existent crawling over the pants and flowers. It is, in fact, the world's earliest known pollinator. The fossil was found in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State. World's Oldest Snake Fossil Dating Back to 100-Million-Years Found in Myanmar.
It was amazingly preserved and detailed observation even show the bits of pollen around it. The world's oldest existing life is still kind of a mystery and this amber fossil changes a bit of what we know until now. Another evidence of existing insectoid pollinators dates back to about 165 million years. These are the fossilized scorpionflies. It also puts a light on the early flowering plants. Leonardo DiCaprio Has New Beetle Species Named After Him (Watch Video)
Take a look at the details about the 99-year-old beetle:
This new research was published in the journal Current Biology and provides the evidence of the relationship between gymnosperms and insects. The pollen on this insect is from an unusual group of evergreen gymnosperms. These pollens point out to the existence of the earlier insect-pollinated plant species.
This beetle in the fossil record is known as pollinator of cycads. Dr Chenyang Cai a researcher of this study was quoted, "It is remarkable several aggregations of exquisitely preserved pollen grains are located along the left side of the fossil beetle and with two pollen grains close to the head." These evergreen trees have been around for almost 300 million years, but are threatened in today's time. Exploding Ants to Snake Turning Caterpillar, The Defense Mechanisms of Some Insects are Proof of Amazing Nature.
The fossil site in Northern Myanmar is a treasure spot for prehistoric insects and vertebrates during the past 20 years. "Our discovery indicates a probable ancient origin of beetle pollination of cycads at least in the Early Jurassic, long before angiosperm dominance and the radiation of flowering-plant pollinators later in the Cretaceous," said Dr. Cai. This beetle is an incredible discovery in the field of palaeontology.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2018 11:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).