100 Million year-old bee discovered

Bee in Amber

Scientist have identified what is thought to be the oldest known specimen of bee.

The 100 million year-old bee has been found preserved in amber and is from a mine in the Hukawng Valley in northern Burma.

The bee, named Melittosphex burmensis appears to share features from both bees and wasps, supporting theories of bee evolution.

The pollen-dependant bees of today are thought to have evolved away from their carnivorous wasp ancestors with the arrival of flowering plants.

The preserved bee is in a remarkable condition, the 3mm specimen has hairs preserved on undamaged portions of body, legs and head. Its legs and wings are also visible.

Source: BBC Science/Nature [link].

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CW Staff
CW Staff

In the late 80s I started investigating UFOs and crop circles and joined the CCCS (Centre for Crop Circle Studies) and a local group researching strange sightings and reports along the south coast of Dorset (UK). In the early ’90s I started my own research group called SPS (Strange Phenomena Studies), this was renamed in 2004 to Cryptoworld.

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