Surprising Science — April 6, 2010

95-Million-Year-Old Bugs

An amber deposit found in Ethiopia includes the fossilized remains of Cretaceous era ants, spiders, wasps, and bacteria, and is providing new information about how those species lived.

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An 95-million-year-old amber deposit found in Ethiopia includes the fossilized remains of ants, spiders, wasps, and bacteria, and is providing new information about how those species lived in the Cretaceous era — the time following the age of dinosaurs, when mammals were first beginning to develop. These are some of the oldest African fossil records for these species, and while the discoveries represented insects will take many years to interpret, the existence of ants in the amber already indicates a different idea of their origin than had been assumed.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Odilon Redon's 1914 oil painting, "The Cyclops"

The Past

From dragons to dinosaurs: How people interpreted fossils throughout history

People discovered prehistoric fossils long before Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species.” The remains of these unknown creatures often puzzled their discoverers.

Life

Yorkicystis, the 500 million-year-old relative of starfish that lost its skeleton

Yorkicystis lived during the “Cambrian explosion,” 539 million to 485 million years ago – hundreds of million years before the dinosaurs.

Hard Science

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With lizard-like eyes and sharp teeth, this strange creature was likely smaller than your thumb.

Life

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