14 DAY TRIAL // A recent paper in the journal ZooKeys announces the discovery of the remains of a grasshopper-like insect that inhabited our planet millions of years ago. The insect was found by researchers with the University of Illinois in the US.
Writing in the journal ZooKeys, the researchers detail that they stumbled upon this little critter while going through bits and pieces of amber found and collected in present-day Dominican Republic quite a while ago, in the 1950s.
This collection of amber, whose weight amounts to 160 pounds (72.5 kilograms), is estimated to date back to about 18 to 20 million years ago. Researchers studying it expect that insects in it will help them gain a better understanding of ancient biodiversity.
In a press release concerning the discovery of the 20-million-year-old grasshopper remains encased in amber, the University of Illinois specialists detail that this ancient insect is best described as a pygmy locust. Thus, they say that its size is comparable to that of a rose thorn.
Evidence indicates that this insect and others of its kind used to feed on moss that they found in the natural ecosystems they used to inhabit. Algae and fungi are believed to have also been part and parcel of these ancient critters' diet, the researchers explain.
This ancient pygmy locust appears to sport vestigial wings, i.e. remnant anatomical parts that hint at its lineage but that the insect could not have used to fly around. Hence, it is believed that the insect represents an intermediate state of evolution in a subfamily of locusts dubbed Cladonotinae.
The species that this 20-million-year-old locust belonged to is now known to the scientific community as Electrotettix attenboroughi. The insect was named in honor of British naturalist and filmmaker Sir David Attenborough, the University of Illinois researchers explain.
“Sir David has a personal interest in amber, and also he was one of my childhood heroes and still is one of my heroes and so I decided to name the species in his honor – with his permission of course,” paleontologist Sam Heads with the Illinois Natural History Survey says in a statement.
The piece of amber inside which this pygmy locust was discovered was also found to contain remains of ancient wasps, ants, and even plants and fungi. Specialists say that information obtained while studying these amber fragments helps shed new light on ancient ecosystems.
As Sam Heads puts it, “Fossil insects can provide lots of insight into the evolution of specific traits and behaviors, and they also tell us about the history of the time period. They’re a tremendous resource for understanding the ancient world, ancient ecosystems and the ancient climate - better even, perhaps, than dinosaur bones.”