500 Million Year Old Insect Exoskeleton

Researchers have discovered exoskeleton entombed in amber and believed that a 50 million-year-old insect tried to escape approaching tree sap.

18:44 18 July 2016

A 50 million-year-old insect literally jumped right out of its skin to escape a flowing tree sap, leaving its exoskeleton entombed in amber. Researchers said that their discovery provides a rare glimpse of interactions of ancient life.

 

The amber comes from an area near the Baltic Sea that now represents Germany, Poland, Russia and Scandinavia.

 

George Poinar Jr, a researcher in the College of Science at Oregon State University, said: ‘From what we can see in this fossil, a tiny mushroom was bitten off, probably by a rodent, at the base of a tree,’

 

‘An insect, similar to a walking stick, was probably also trying to feed on the mushroom. It appears to have immediately jumped out of its skin and escaped, just as tree sap flowed over the remaining exoskeleton and a hair left behind by the fleeing rodent.’

 

‘The tiny insect in this fossil was a phasmid, one of the kinds of insects that uses its shape to resemble sticks or leaves as a type of camouflage,’ Poinar added.

 

‘It would have shed its skin repeatedly before reaching adulthood, in a short lifespan of a couple months. In this case, the ability to quickly get out of its skin, along with being smart enough to see a problem coming, saved its life.’