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This ant, preserved in amber 50 million years ago, is evidence that we may have dramatically misunderstood the environmental history of India.
This has actually deepened the mystery of India's early biosphere, because it's unclear how the landmass acquired such diversity in isolation from other landmasses on the planet.
Cambay amber occurs in lignitic and muddy sediments concentrated by near-shore chenier systems; its chemistry and the anatomy of associated fossil wood indicates a definitive source of Dipterocarpaceae.
The array of unique plant and animal species in India are thought to have evolved during the continent's 100 million year northward journey that ended with the massive collision that formed the Himalayas. Jes Rust and colleagues extracted more than 300 pounds of amber from 50 million-year-old deposits in western India, and identified a distinctive chemical signature that suggested the resin was produced by a globally widespread family of tropical trees. The researchers dissolved the amber with solvents and extracted entire preserved specimens of more than 700 ancient insects, arachnids, and crustaceans from more than 55 families, as well as abundant plant and fungal remains. The insects revealed unexpected geographic connections to contemporary species from Asia and Australia, and to ancient ancestors found as far away as Mexico and Central America. The study offers direct fossil evidence that Indian amber contains an early record of a tropical forest with diverse fauna, and that pre-contact India may not have been as biologically isolated as suspected, according to the authors.
Originally posted by davespanners
Ermm
Cambay amber occurs in lignitic and muddy sediments concentrated by near-shore chenier systems; its chemistry and the anatomy of associated fossil wood indicates a definitive source of Dipterocarpaceae.
Can someone translate this into English for me. I've tried google translate and it does nothing
It's been a long weekend.....
Originally posted by silo13
reply to post by Thill
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/84aec4d8a3c0.jpg[/atsimg]
Amazing stuff. Who said being small wasn't a good thing?
This little dude just changed history!