The recently uncovered 87-million-year-old specimen of praying mantis is believed to be the "missing link" between the giant Cretaceous mantises and today's similar insects.

 

While this is acknowledged to be truly a rare find, the importance of this discovery is yet to be evaluated. The fossil insect is 1.4 cm (0.5 inch)-long and was found by the director of the Kuji Amber Museum, Kazuhisa Sasaki, in January. It was lying buried about 2 meters (more than 6 feet) under the surface of an amber mine in Japan. The respective area, the Iwate Prefecture in the northeastern part of Japan, is well-known for the large quantities of amber it yields.

 

Sasaki explains: "I found it in a deposit that had lots of other insects – ancient flies, bees, and cockroaches – but this was the only praying mantis." Although its abdomen and wings are severely damaged, the rest of the insect is well preserved, and Kyoichiro Ueda, the executive curator of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History in Japan states that, out of the mantis fossils found in the country, this is the oldest one. Also, there are only seven mantis fossils dating from the Cretaceous period in the whole world. Still, this particular fossil is different from the other six mantises, as it is provided with two spines that protrude through its femur, while it also shows some tiny hairs on its forelimbs, although it is uncertain what these served for.

 

In spite of the fact that contemporary mantises have 5 to 6 spines on the forelegs, none of the other six fossils are provided with such prey-capturing "devices." As Ueda adds, "The years of the late Cretaceous period were a kind of transition phase between the ancient and modern worlds, and this fossil displays many intermediate elements between the two eras." Specialists are hoping to find further details, in order to shed light on the relevance of the finding.