Fossilized mother spider protecting her young is found preserved in 99-million-year-old amber



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Often used in jewelry, amber is a fossilized tree resin, the oldest of which dates back more than 300 million years.

In recent years, the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar, formerly Burma, has delivered many finds.

In January 2017, researchers discovered a 100-million-year-old insect preserved in amber that closely resembled ET.

Its features, including the triangular head and bulging eyes, were so unique that the researchers placed themselves in a new scientific order, Aethiocarenodea.

The eyes on the side of its head would have given the insect the ability to see nearly 180 degrees just by turning its head.

In June 2017, researchers revealed a beautiful newborn baby trapped in amber, which they said was only a few days old when it fell into a pool of sap oozing from a conifer in Myanmar.

The incredible find showed the head, neck, wings, tail and feet of a now extinct bird that lived during the time of the dinosaurs, 100 million years ago, in detail without previous.

The researchers nicknamed the young enantiornithine “Belone”, after the Burmese name of the oriental lark with its amber hue.

The newborn belonged to a group of birds known as “opposing birds” that lived alongside the ancestors of modern birds.

Archaeologists say they were actually more diverse and prosperous – until they went extinct with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

They had major differences from today’s birds, and their shoulders and feet had grown differently from modern birds.

In December 2017, experts discovered incredible ancient fossils of a tick grabbing a dinosaur feather and another – dubbed “Dracula’s terrible tick” – swollen after swallowing blood.

The first evidence that dinosaurs had blood-sucking parasites living on them has been found preserved in Burmese amber that is 99 million years old.

The newly discovered tick dates from the Cretaceous period, 145 to 66 million years ago.

In 2021, researchers announced that they had discovered a new species of land snail from 99 million years ago, preserved in amber moments after giving birth.

The soft body of the gastropod, which looks like a marshmallow, Cretatortulosa gignens, was preserved in the sap, as were its five cubs.

The same week, Burmese scientists announced the discovery of a new species of ancient lizard trapped in amber at around the same time.

‘Oculudentavis naga’ has been confirmed as a lizard after CT scans analyzing its skull and partial skeleton.

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