Ancient Amber Reveals Insects with Vibrant Colors That Defy 99 Million Years of Time—What Secrets Do They Hold?
Ever wonder what it would look like if Jurassic Park had a fashion show? Well, brace yourself, because these 99-million-year-old insects fossilized in amber are flashing colors so vibrant, they’d put your local neon signs to shame. Now, I’m no paleontologist, but after seeing thousands of amber fossils, hearing scientists say, “the preservation of color in these specimens is extraordinary,” really makes you pause. Imagine beetles, wasps, and flies still glowing in metallic greens and purples like they just stepped off a prehistoric runway—talk about nature’s original highlighters! What’s even crazier is that these colors come from microscopic nanostructures intact enough after all these eons to scatter light like they’re fresh out of the molding mold. If that doesn’t make you look twice at your morning bug, I don’t know what will. Plus, if these ancient hues survived nearly 100 million years, it’s a wild thought to consider just how brilliantly colorful the Cretaceous period’s bug world really was. Curious yet? Dive into how this dazzling time-capsule of color came to be—and what it tells us about life back then. LEARN MORE.
“We have seen thousands of amber fossils but the preservation of color in these specimens is extraordinary.”
Cai et alScientists have been able to unlock the secret behind the vibrant colors of prehistoric insects using these 99-million-year-old specimens.
Although scientists have been able to mine a great deal of information about prehistory from fossils, they are not always able to determine an animal’s coloring.
But according to Science Alert, a swarm of prehistoric insects fossilized in amber is showing scientists just how vibrantly colored the world was 99 million years ago.
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