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Two beetles donated to the London Institution by a farmer were found to be nearly 4,000 years old, scientists say.
The two beetles were donated by a farmer who was scared that they might be invasive pests that might threaten crops. The farmer was from eastern England and found the two insects when he was gathering wood and ploughing. They were dead when he found them. He submitted them to the institution with the large wet oak tree they inhabited. After examination it was concluded that they weren t harmful, hence they were stuffed in a drawer.
(Photo : Pixabay)
New Discovery About The Bog Beetles
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.