Triassic Mites Join World's Oldest Amber Animal Finds (Pictures)

Time Spiral

Photograph by Marc DeVille, Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

The newfound mites join a growing cast of prehistoric species preserved in amber, including a few other record holders, such as this 125-million-year-old snail, the oldest yet discovered in the hardened resin.

Discovered in the mid-1990s in Lebanon, a location rich in amber finds, this specimen is similar to tiny land-dwelling snails found today on forest floors and dead wood in Europe and the Middle East. Amber-preserved snails are relative rarities, with only a few known examples.

(Related: See the first known orchid fossil in amber.)

Published August 28, 2012

Bad-Hair Eon

Image courtesy Enrique Peñalver, IGME

Tiny grains attached to an amber-encased insect's tail form the oldest known evidence for insect pollination, according to a May 2012 study.

The 110-million-year-old fossil suggests plants may have been using insect pollinators even before the evolution of bees, the oldest of which dates to about a hundred million years ago. (See "Oldest-Ever Bee Found in Amber.")

The insect, a species of thrips, was among six found in amber from northern Spain. The thrips had hundreds of grains of pollen on their bodies and specialized hairs seemingly adapted for pollen collection.

Researchers concluded the grains were from a gingko tree, which does not produce flowers. "Thrips might indeed turn out to be one of the first pollinator groups in geological history, long before evolution turned some of them into flower pollinators," study co-author Carmen Soriano said in a statement.

Published August 28, 2012

Endless Love?

Photograph by Marc DeVille, Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Two 125-million-year-old dung midges have the dubious honor of being the oldest preserved mating pair in the animal kingdom, according to a 2007 study in the French journal Comptes Rendus Palevol. (Also see "Hundreds of Dino-Era Animals in Amber Revealed by X-Ray.")

Published August 28, 2012

Leftovers?

Photograph courtesy George Poinar, Jr., Oregon State University

The oldest known gecko fossil still has clearly visible lamellae, or sticky toe hairs, which allow modern geckos to climb even smooth surfaces, according to a 2008 study.

Found in Myanmar, the lizard is at least 97 million years old, 40 million years older than the next oldest gecko. The rest of the reptile was not preserved—it may have been a dinosaur's lunch, the researchers said in a statement.

This particular specimen would have been less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long but was probably a juvenile of a roughly foot-long (30-centimeter-long) species, the team concluded. (Related picture: oldest spider web in amber.)

Published August 28, 2012

Parasite, Paralyzed

Photograph from European Pressphoto Agency

It looks like a fairly normal fly, but this 39-million-year-old insect is part of the Stylops genus, which lives inside and parasitizes the guts of other insects. The amber-encased bug is also said to be both the oldest and largest known male Stylops specimen.

This adult male would have emerged from its host after consuming it from the inside, only to die a few hours later. (First African Amber Photos: Thunder Fly, Wasps, More.)

Published August 28, 2012

Unflappable

Photograph by Xavier Rossi, Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

The oldest feather on record, this hundred-million-year-old, amber-preserved specimen could have belonged to a bird or a dinosaur, but neither would have been doing much flying.

Found in 2000 in a French quarry, the specimen looks more like insulating down than a feather intended for flight. The feather's structure, though, does seem to show for the first time evidence of evolution toward a more aerodynamic shape. (Full story: "Pictures: 'Incredible' Dinosaur Feathers Found in Amber.")

Published August 28, 2012

Bloodsucker

Photograph courtesy George Poinar, Jr., Oregon State University

The oldest—and only—fossil of a bat fly is preserved in 20- to 30-million-year-old amber found in the Dominican Republic, according to a February 2012 study. (See "'Vampire' Parasite Found Entombed in Amber.")

The flies feed on only bats' blood, and the fossil here shows that the narrowly adapted insects have been around for at least half as long as bats themselves, which arose at least 50 million years ago.

Bat flies leave their hosts only to mate, which is probably what this fly was attempting to do when it became trapped in sticky tree resin.

Published August 28, 2012

Next: Glowing Animals Shining for Science

Photograph courtesy Osamu Shimomura and Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole

Published August 28, 2012