An ancient insect with claws like a crab has been found in amber
Scientists have discovered an ancient insect with large claws on its front legs in a 100-million-year-old amber from Myanmar. This is important because such structures are extremely rare in insects and can tell us more about their evolution.
The discovery was made by researchers from the University of Munich. It is about a new species of bed bug, which was named Carcinonepa libererrantes. The fossil was preserved in Kachin amber, which is about 100 million years old.
Details
The main feature of this insect is its large claw-like forelimbs. Scientists call these structures chelae: they work like pincers or miniature pincers. This is very unusual for insects. The authors of the article note that previously such structures were known only in a very small number of groups, and in the article itself calls the new find the first known fossil insect with a pronounced "true claw".
To study the find, the researchers used microcomputer tomography and built a 3D model of the body. They then compared the shape of these claws to more than 2,000 similar grasping structures in modern and extinct animals. It turned out that in structure they differ markedly from known insects and in some ways even resemble the claws of crustaceans like crabs and shrimps.
According to the structure of the body scientists attributed the new species to water bugs, but suggest that he probably led a terrestrial predatory lifestyle off the coast of the ancient Cretaceous forest. The claws, they believe, may have been used to grab small prey.
Why it's important
Finds like this help us understand how different groups of animals independently developed similar solutions to the same task - for example, how best to grab prey. In this case, scientists see an example of convergent evolution: creatures that are far from each other have similar "tools", even though they evolved separately.
In addition, the Kachin amber remains one of the most important sources of information about life in the Cretaceous period. Each such find adds new details to the picture of ancient ecosystems.
Background
Kachin amber from Myanmar is known for its large number of well-preserved organisms from the Cretaceous period. The new species has been named Carcinonepa libererrantes: the first part of the name refers to the word "crab" and the second part to a group of water bugs. The species name, according to the university's announcement, is related to the K-pop band Stray Kids.
Source
The study is published in the journal Insects (2026). The authors are a team from LMU Munich and partner universities.
An independent researcher, interested in archaeology and sacred geography. He researches them and writes about them.
Related news
The oldest piece of amber, dating back 385 million years, has been discovered in China
Bones have shed light on the unusual lives of Egyptian princesses
An antidote to one of the most potent marine venoms has been found in frogs
Scientists have described, for the first time, the young of a fish that lived 152 million years ago
Popular news
Scientists have discovered that power among the Scythians was passed down through the family line
Navrotsky has announced a ban on the red-and-black flag in Poland: what will change
News about war
The UN has reported a sharp rise in the number of Ukrainian civilians killed as a result of the war
3 July has been declared a day of mourning in Kyiv. The number of dead and injured is rising
