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International team of scientists discovered Africa?s first amber fossils
01 April 2010 University of Vienna
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Enclosed organisms reveal new insights into the evolution of insects and ancient ecosystems
Scientists have discovered the first amber fossils from the African continent. The fossil resin was found in Ethiopia and is about 95 million years old. The resin was deposited in the Cretaceous period at a time when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Matthias Svojtka and Norbert V?vra from the University of Vienna contributed to the study of the unique amber. Insects, spiders, plant remains as well as minute fungi, bacteria and nematodes were entombed in the resin flowing from trees and today provide an exceptional window into a Cretaceous African woodland. The results of this project are now published in the journal PNAS.
The first flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared and diversified in the Cretaceous. Their rise to dominance drastically changed terrestrial ecosystems, and the Ethiopian amber deposit sheds light on this time of change. Parasites, predators and decomposers are among the enclosed insects. Remains of flowering plants and ferns are preserved, as are parasitic fungi that lived on the resin-bearing trees and served as food source for insects.
Twenty researchers from Germany, France, Austria, Ethiopia, Italy, the UK and the USA investigated the newly discovered amber, its inclusions and the geological setting. Two scientists from the Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Matthias Svojtka and Norbert V?vra, contributed to the study of animal inclusions and the geochemical analysis of the resin.
Thirteen families of insects have been found, including hymenopterans, thrips, barklice, zorapterans, and remains of moths and beetles. All of them are among the earliest fossil records of these groups from Africa. Particularly intriguing finds are the oldest African ant and a sheet-web weaving spider.
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http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=72359&CultureCode=en
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Ancient Life Trapped in Amber
Bugs, fungus and other life forms have been discovered trapped in amber from the time of dinosaurs.
Thysanoptera encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, M. Svojtka
Stellate hair of ferns encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
A spider encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, E. Saupe
Fungal spores encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
Ethiopian amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
An ant encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, V. Perrichot
A Trichogrammatid encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/album_view.php?gid=1879&page=7
01 April 2010 University of Vienna
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Enclosed organisms reveal new insights into the evolution of insects and ancient ecosystems
Scientists have discovered the first amber fossils from the African continent. The fossil resin was found in Ethiopia and is about 95 million years old. The resin was deposited in the Cretaceous period at a time when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Matthias Svojtka and Norbert V?vra from the University of Vienna contributed to the study of the unique amber. Insects, spiders, plant remains as well as minute fungi, bacteria and nematodes were entombed in the resin flowing from trees and today provide an exceptional window into a Cretaceous African woodland. The results of this project are now published in the journal PNAS.
The first flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared and diversified in the Cretaceous. Their rise to dominance drastically changed terrestrial ecosystems, and the Ethiopian amber deposit sheds light on this time of change. Parasites, predators and decomposers are among the enclosed insects. Remains of flowering plants and ferns are preserved, as are parasitic fungi that lived on the resin-bearing trees and served as food source for insects.
Twenty researchers from Germany, France, Austria, Ethiopia, Italy, the UK and the USA investigated the newly discovered amber, its inclusions and the geological setting. Two scientists from the Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Matthias Svojtka and Norbert V?vra, contributed to the study of animal inclusions and the geochemical analysis of the resin.
Thirteen families of insects have been found, including hymenopterans, thrips, barklice, zorapterans, and remains of moths and beetles. All of them are among the earliest fossil records of these groups from Africa. Particularly intriguing finds are the oldest African ant and a sheet-web weaving spider.
/.../
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=72359&CultureCode=en
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ancient Life Trapped in Amber
Bugs, fungus and other life forms have been discovered trapped in amber from the time of dinosaurs.
Thysanoptera encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, M. Svojtka
Stellate hair of ferns encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
A spider encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, E. Saupe
Fungal spores encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
Ethiopian amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
An ant encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, V. Perrichot
A Trichogrammatid encased in amber. Credit: PNAS, A. Schmidt
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/album_view.php?gid=1879&page=7