Photo: Prehistoric Antarctic Bugs and Plants Discovered

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Moss mats lie exposed before Mount Aeolus in Antarctica. The cold, hyper-arid climate of the McMurdo Dry Valleys region prevents decomposition of the organic material.

Recent discoveries of well-preserved, 14-million-year-old insects, crustaceans, and plants in the region are shedding clues on Antarctica's temperate past—and how quickly the continent froze.Photograph by A. Lewis via PNAS

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