Prehistoric frogs in amber surface after 99 million years
Frogs trapped in amber for 99 million years are giving a glimpse of a lost world. The tiny creatures have been preserved in sticky tree resin since the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs.
The four fossils give a window into a world when frogs and toads were evolving in the rainforests. Amber from Myanmar, containing skin, scales, fur, feathers or even whole creatures, is regarded as a treasure trove by palaeontologists.
Dr Lida Xing of China University of Geosciences in Beijing said it was a "miracle" find. "In China, frogs, lizards and scorpions are called three treasures of amber," he told BBC News. "These amber fossils provide direct evidence that frogs inhabited wet tropical forests before the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous."
The fossil record of the earliest amphibians is sparse, which makes the discovery particularly valuable for science.
The earliest direct evidence of frogs in wet tropical forests from Cretaceous Burmese amber (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26848-w) (DX)
(Score: 3, Funny) by Snotnose on Sunday June 17 2018, @12:50AM
He said he was going out for cigarettes, that was 20 years ago. Wat do?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.