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The Burmese amber thread

Adam Khor

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5821991/Never-known-frog-species-time-dinosaurs-discovered-99mn-year-old-amber.html

Now we only need some dinosaur DNA to fill the gaps in the sequence...

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Adam Khor

Well sorry, I didn´t even know it was that famous...

But other than pieces of larger animals I don´t know of any bigger ones. I'm hoping for something spectacular from the Burmese site. Preferably an archosaur...

Rubecula

yes I know about the most famous fossil in amber Adam, I was just a little bit curious on if there was anything bigger.

Adam Khor

As far as I know, the largest animal found entirely preserved is this anole lizard found in Dominican amber:

28LIZARD-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp

It is about 15-20 million years old and measures almost 9 cm. So, only large when compared to the very tiny lizards and frogs usually found preserved (even the baby enantiornithe found a while ago was only about 6.3 cm).

Interestingly, there's remnants of a dewlap so it is believed to have been a male, although probably not fully grown. It was also tiny compared to today's biggest anole lizard, the knight anole which grows up to 55 cm long:

Rubecula

Adam any idea what the largest thing caught in amber is?

Adam Khor

Cretaceous mantis eggcase?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118305056?via%3Dihub

56879301_2425945784082254_5426728450222194688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=3cd70e8f1d791254b50aec01183224f1&oe=5D471EC7

56879301_2425945784082254_5426728450222194688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=3cd70e8f1d791254b50aec01183224f1&oe=5D471EC7

Adam Khor

Dualula, a scorpionfly:

53251510_2393434444000055_845706097401528320_n.png?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=5cc14354e14a2bf76641c92aa83e4d2d&oe=5D1C22EF

53251510_2393434444000055_845706097401528320_n.png?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=5cc14354e14a2bf76641c92aa83e4d2d&oe=5D1C22EF

Reconstruction of the head (male):

54255910_2393434857333347_8367345781581021184_n.png?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=8f11c837e341fc38f5ef85603677949a&oe=5D1091E9

54255910_2393434857333347_8367345781581021184_n.png?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=8f11c837e341fc38f5ef85603677949a&oe=5D1091E9

Adam Khor

Whirligig beetle larva:

52779843_2355373661139467_6010515454659919872_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=805c1967cf381012afd43c6fbde15817&oe=5D194A83

52779843_2355373661139467_6010515454659919872_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=805c1967cf381012afd43c6fbde15817&oe=5D194A83

Horaielline fly:

52556954_2344628372213996_6535419333642813440_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=8661a88bd24967bec8dc4e15022459ee&oe=5D13F9BE

52556954_2344628372213996_6535419333642813440_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=8661a88bd24967bec8dc4e15022459ee&oe=5D13F9BE

Froghopper:

52358961_2344190505591116_2866066092193742848_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=a293e7d645b8bc307e1b9d74f691d668&oe=5D150923

52358961_2344190505591116_2866066092193742848_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=a293e7d645b8bc307e1b9d74f691d668&oe=5D150923

Cretolia cornutus beetle:

51703077_2333591866650980_4389466420577042432_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=d93b0cc5466feef882e0014611e9b652&oe=5D125E3D

51703077_2333591866650980_4389466420577042432_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=d93b0cc5466feef882e0014611e9b652&oe=5D125E3D

Caddisfly:

51431034_2333550899988410_4777536476915171328_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=a28031fbe34123613a0fd1898dbb9578&oe=5D256339

51431034_2333550899988410_4777536476915171328_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=a28031fbe34123613a0fd1898dbb9578&oe=5D256339

banie01

My 1st time encountering the wonders of Burmese amber!
I am astounded by the variety of creatures found to date!
Thanks for linking these pics.

Adam Khor

So it's not a pterosaur, it's not a non-avian dinosaur, but it's still impressive!

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37427-4?fbclid=IwAR2wGlFF4rAe2OlWpz4WSIoGIEd6EDguX-iRI1ppQ-SqFvNlILeTh1dz0Sc

Rubecula

Adam Khor wrote: »

New family of cicadomorph hemipterans from Cretaceous Burma. :pac:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118304476?via%3Dihub

A looks like a Dr Who warrior

Adam Khor

This Burmese amber millipede proves the Siphonophorida (a millipede group with modified mouthparts) have changed little in 100 million years, and that they appeared much earlier than thought:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118304087?via%3Dihub

50261738_2304266426250191_2508591458726969344_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=7f68db08af6caa97517df382052d5dc0&oe=5CBF306B

50261738_2304266426250191_2508591458726969344_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=7f68db08af6caa97517df382052d5dc0&oe=5CBF306B

Adam Khor

New family of cicadomorph hemipterans from Cretaceous Burma. :pac:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118304476?via%3Dihub

50728552_2308602879149879_5706984193091698688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=037f4acde6c5ec40e7b7ff3862287e3b&oe=5CC32868

50728552_2308602879149879_5706984193091698688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=037f4acde6c5ec40e7b7ff3862287e3b&oe=5CC32868

Adam Khor

monty_python wrote: »

Why ffs?? The country you are referring to is called Myanmar. Your using the wrong name. You don't like to have your mistakes pointed out do you??

I am the one who used Burma. If it were a mistake, it would be mine, not Wibbs'.

Wibbs

monty_python wrote: »

I've been there 3 times. It's called Myanmar. The people never refer to the county as Burma. Neighboring countries called it Myanmar, never burma

I've been to Germany a few times and I wouldn't call it Deutschland here.

monty_python wrote: »

You don't like to have your mistakes pointed out do you??

They happen so rarely I consider it an amusing novelty when they do.

Zadkiel

monty_python wrote: »

Why ffs?? The country you are referring to is called Myanmar. Your using the wrong name. You don't like to have your mistakes pointed out do you??

The irony

monty_python

Kamili wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar

I've been there 3 times. It's called Myanmar. The people never refer to the county as Burma. Neighboring countries called it Myanmar, never burma

Kamili

monty_python wrote: »

Why ffs?? The country you are referring to is called Myanmar. Your using the wrong name. You don't like to have your mistakes pointed out do you??

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma

monty_python

Wibbs wrote: »

Oh FFS.

Why ffs?? The country you are referring to is called Myanmar. Your using the wrong name. You don't like to have your mistakes pointed out do you??

Adam Khor

Wibbs wrote: »

Oh FFS.

Well at least we're getting comments. :rolleyes:

Wibbs

Oh FFS.

monty_python

It's Myanmar. Not Burma

Kamili

Opal is my favourite stone, that's absolutely awesome, I didn't think that could happen

Adam Khor

This one is from Java, not Burma, but still amazing because of the rarity of its preservation within opal, rather than amber. Apparently, it hasn´t been formally studied yet, but it may be that the amber became opal over time.

fossilized-insect-in-opal.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1

fossilized-insect-in-opal.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1

fossilized-insect-in-opal-2.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1

Rubecula

fascinating stuff there Adam

Adam Khor

Feathers probably used as a decoy found preserved in Cretaceous amber:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/12/ancient-bird-fossils-have-weirdest-feathers-i-have-ever-seen?utm_source=64&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=News-from-Science-(@NewsfromScience)&utm_term=SciMag&utm_content=AAAS

2feathers_16x9.jpg?itok=Ga1lJ6xA

Adam Khor

Barlochersaurus, a diminutive, extremely well preserved, short-limbed lizard from Burmese amber:

https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/specimen_images/publications/Breviora_563.pdf

Adam Khor

Apparently the mysterious "Alienopterids" found in Burmese amber are cockroaches that mimicked ants and wasps for protection:

45573573_2197954890214679_4478309111879958528_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=827b73b1629f1d6592b4ad959660baf7&oe=5C3D9745

45573573_2197954890214679_4478309111879958528_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent.fgdl5-1.fna&oh=827b73b1629f1d6592b4ad959660baf7&oe=5C3D9745

Batesian insect-insect mimicry-related explosive radiation of ancient alienopterid cockroaches

Peter Vršanský & Günter Bechly & Qingqing Zhang & Edmund A. Jarzembowski & Tomáš Mlynský & Lucia Šmídová & Peter Barna & Matúš Kúdela & Danil Aristov & Sonia Bigalk & Lars Krogmann & Liqin Li &
Qi Zhang & Haichun Zhang & Sieghard Ellenberger & Patrick Müller & Carsten Gröhn & Fangyuan Xia & Kyoichiro Ueda & Peter Vďačný & Daniel Valaška & Lucia Vršanská & Bo Wang

Batesian #mimicry is a relationship in which a harmful organism (the model) is mimicked by a harmless organism (the mimic), which gains protection because predators mistake it for the model. It is the most widely studied of mimicry complexes and has undoubtedly played an important role in the speciation of various animals especially insects. However, little is known about the early evolution of this important behavior and its evolutionary significance owing to a dearth of paleontological records. Here we report several specialized representatives of the family #Alienopteridae from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, mid-Cretaceous #Burmite, and the Eocene of the USA. They exhibit unique morphological adaptations for wasp and ant mimicry and represent one of the oldest evidence of Batesian mimicry in the insect fossil record. Our findings reveal at least 65-million-year coevolution between extinct alienopterids and aculeates. Phylogenetic Bayesian network analysis houses Alienopteridae within #Umenocoleidae explosively radiating ~127 Ma. Alienopteridae is the only Mesozoic-type #cockroach family which passed K/Pg.

Evolutionary implications

Batesian mimicry is widespread in modern insects (Quicke
2017; but not in cockroaches – Vidlička 2001). Aculeates,
including bees and ants, are the most frequently mimicked
models for Batesian mimicry (Ruxton et al. 2004). A wasp
mimic Cratomyia mimetica (Zhangsolvidae) is already known (Grimaldi 2016). A case of mimicry in #Burmese #amber is cerambyid Ornatomalthinus interpreted as a putative Batesian mimic of a venomous lycid beetle model proposed by Poinar and Fanti (2016). The new alienopterid adults mimic ancient aculeate wasps, bees and ants respectively. Like other stem-group cockroaches, these new alienopterids had small mandibles, lacked raptorial forelegs and were phytophagous or omnivorous. They would have gained protection by mimicking aculeates. The fossil record of Batesian mimicry in insects is very sparse, and the additional record was from the Paleocene, involving mimicry by a heteropteran based on an aculeate model (Wappler et al. 2013). Our discovery provides the earliest record of Batesian mimicry in insects, extending its occurrence back to the Early Cretaceous.

Adam Khor

Extremely rare find; a snail with preserved soft tissue!

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/10/news-snail-found-amber-dinosaurs-cretaceous-paleontology/

01-amber-snail-amber-specimen-2.adapt.1190.1.jpg

01-amber-snail-amber-specimen-2.adapt.1190.1.jpg

Rubecula

wow I am impressed

Adam Khor

Here's some cicadas!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118302325

43101753_2148861531790682_6952035774149689344_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&oh=4caeafc0132418de8b28b0e86669bb9b&oe=5C22E044

43101753_2148861531790682_6952035774149689344_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&oh=4caeafc0132418de8b28b0e86669bb9b&oe=5C22E044