Jan 14, 2021 04:28 AM EST
A strange or rather bizarre-looking beetle has been discovered by researchers from a one hundred million years old Burmese amber, collected in the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar.
(Photo : Egor Kamelev)
The strange beetle bears an uncanny resemblance to a combination of fungi, moss, and lichens which make for excellent cover and protection from predators. The cylindrical bark beetle is now a new genus and specie described by George Poinar Jr., a study co-author, entomologist and a paleobiologist at Oregon State University.
The outlandish creature is a master of disguise as it uses moss, lichens, and fungi to hide since it can t run away or beat its enemies. This makes a lot of sense to Poinar, a global expert in using animal and plant life forms heavily preserved in amber, to learn more about the ecology and biology of the distant past.
Scientists Identify New Flower From a Forest That Existed 100 Million Years Ago
Valviloculus pleristaminis makes for a perfect example.
Scientists only recently identified this mysterious, extinct flower. It once bloomed in the Cretaceous period - a floral relic of a bygone age, preserved in time-stopping amber since some nameless day when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.
This isn t quite a Christmas flower but it is a beauty, especially considering it was part of a forest that existed 100 million years ago, says emeritus professor George Poinar Jr. from Oregon State University.
Poinar Jr. is something of an authority on the time-capsule-esque capabilities of amber.
Valviloculus pleristaminis, a new flower species, has been identified inside a 100-million-year-old piece of amber.The discovery challenges theories about when an ancient supercontinent broke up.
99-Million-Year-Old Fossil Flower Found Encased in Burmese Amber | Paleontology sci-news.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sci-news.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.