Ancient Amber Reveals Insects with Vibrant Colors That Defy 99 Million Years of Time—What Secrets Do They Hold?
“We have seen thousands of amber fossils but the preservation of color in these specimens is extraordinary,” said Huang Diying from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) and a co-author of the study.
These insects have been so well preserved in tree resin that researchers from NIGPAS can now see a wide range of vivid coloring across them, including metallic greens, purples, and blues. These remarkable findings were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Observing the coloration of prehistoric bugs is integral to creating a picture of their ecology because a creature’s coloring often facilitates their life in the wild. The coloration of bugs, for example, typically serves as a form of camouflage from predators or to attract mates.
Researchers analyzed 35 amber specimens that date back to “the golden age of dinosaurs” in the mid-Cretaceous period some 99 million years ago. They were found in an amber mine in northern Myanmar.
But this batch of preserved insects, in particular, offered something special.
Cai et alThe exoskeletons on these colorful insects (left) have remained intact because of the tree resin that encapsulates them.
An analysis revealed wholly-intact beetles, cuckoo wasps, and a soldier fly all in bright hues of various shades. Their iridescence reportedly is due to the anatomical or nanostructure of their exoskeletons.
“The surface nanostructure scatters light of specific wavelengths and produces very intense colors. This mechanism is responsible for many of the colors we know from our everyday lives,” explained Pan Yanhong, a specialist on paleocolor reconstruction who was also involved in the study.
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