Scientists Discover Oldest Known Fossils of Pollen-Carrying Insects

Category : Science and Tech Published on: March 09 2023

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Scientists have discovered 280-million-year-old fossils of insects and the world’s first plant pollinators called tillyardembiids preserved with pollen on their bodies.
They were found along the riverbank, close to the village of Chekarda in Russia.
These record-setting remains are around 120 million years older than the previously oldest known fossils of pollen-carrying insects.
The team examined 425 fossils of an insect called Tillyardembia and realized that six were preserved with pollen on their heads, bodies or legs.
Tillyardembiids are earwig-like insects with flattened bodies.
They are older than mosquitoes found in Jurassic Park, which is around 200 million years old.
The rock on which the insect fossil was found is a sedimentary rock. It was under a lagoon about 280 million years ago.