Introduction: 41 million years ago, the "second goods" of a fly couple.
Ever since they flew into the hollow tree like the rest of their kind, and before they could take a closer look at the outside world, they could only watch the sap slowly flow out and wrap them up, and the end of the fly couple was already sealed.
Unfortunately, the little fly couple could have had a great future, and as long as they kept flying, the fly couple would be able to pass on their genes for a grand "genetic journey".
However, both sides maintained this awkward position until 41 million years later, when they were dug out of the tree and placed in the exhibition hall, where the fly couple could be seen mating.
Amber with flies.
Like the 41 million-year-old fly couple, these paleontology in amber tell a story from 41 million years ago.
According to research, amber is a petrified plant resin, most of which is cured by pine resin, but occasionally there are some other plant resins that act as "seasonings" to enrich the taste of amber.
After the plant releases the gelatinous resin, if there is no air in the area where the resin exists, then the resin has a chance to fossilize.
Since the resin in amber has no oxygen, microorganisms cannot break it down, which also gives it a chance to be fossilized.
Moreover, if a creature enters the resin, then when the resin attaches to the creature, the creature will be permanently "frozen" in that moment, and then forever immovable.
This means that over time, these "creatures that can't escape" will be preserved forever, becoming precious fossils, and if they are lucky, they can even be preserved to "witness" their ancient behavior.
Less than 1% of the amber found worldwide is a creature, with very complete biological witness records, and even surprising ancient behaviors, such as small dinosaur hunting, insect feeding, etc.
Of all the amber, the most famous is the one found in Burma, which records ancient acts that are so astonishing that some believe that they describe a prehistoric "insect feast", in which several insects are actually fighting tree sap.
In addition, among the global distribution of amber, the amber of the Baltic Sea region is also famous, and many of these ambers record some ancient behaviors of insects, although these ancient behaviors are not amazing to the ancient behavior feast, but they are still relatively precious.
Among these ambers, there is naturally no shortage of creatures that have been recorded during mating, so this 41-million-year-old fly couple is not alone.
A 41 million-year-old fly couple.
In 2016, the archaeological team of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found a large piece of amber in Myanmar, which was also the second largest amber block found in Myanmar at that time.
This discovery gave a huge boost to paleontology, as bats had never been found in paleontology before, and it was thought that bats had evolved more recently, and this discovery cast doubt on this knowledge.
However, this piece of amber certainly can't be given up, because there are other bigger and more shocking things about it.
After careful excavation of this piece of amber, the first mating insect fossil ever was found in layers of enclosed resin.
The pair of insects is a pair of male and female mated bugs that stay for a split second while restrained.
But even so, they have become one of the most precious ancient relics of all time, and have become valuable materials for people to study paleontology.
When the researchers spotted the pair of insects, which were about 41 million years old, they both laughed because their posture was so funny, they seemed to be arguing, flying in the air, yet it was like going out on a date, keeping their distance while flying.
However, it also raises the question of how mating insects are preserved.
The most common idea is that there are bubbles in the sap that separate the pair of insects, so they are not close to each other, which can also be used to explain why they are not in a pile.
However, this explanation is obviously inaccurate, because the sap is not only filled with bubbles, but also with the posture of other insects.
So, the bubbles in the sap are not enough to explain the gesture of the pair of insects.
Formation and preservation mechanisms of amber.
Some researchers have suggested that the pair's posture may have been caused by a trace of sticky material that entangles them, and then the resin solidifies, allowing their posture to be preserved together, but this explanation is not supported by sufficient evidence.
Because when two insects mate in the air, some of the resin is easily pumped away by the air.
Therefore, the amount of resin sticky material is not enough for the two insects to entangle, and in the end, their posture remains in a quarrel forever.
Later, some researchers proposed a possibility that the mating posture of the pair of insects was preserved.
The fly couple may have flown out of a branch trying to mate, but at this point a stream of trees gushed out and enveloped them.
Since their mating posture is fixed, the sap will flow to the lower part of their body, leaving them to be caught together forever at the moment of mating.
However, the probability of this happening is a bit low.
The most common explanation is that the fly couple may have landed on a tree trying to mate.
As a result, at this time a stream of sap gushes out, wrapping them up, and over time, the liquefaction of the trees petrifies and preserves their posture.
This is why the gestures between insects can be preserved.
And what makes amber preserve paleontology is because of the chemical composition of amber.
The resin mainly contains fatty acids, which are chemically stable and do not decompose easily, so the encapsulated organisms are preserved in the resin.
The concentration of fatty acids in amber is extremely high, almost 100%, and this concentration is almost impossible for microorganisms to decompose, so some lucky creatures will eventually solidify into amber.
Conclusion: 41 million years ago, a "second cargo" of a fly couple.
Ever since they flew into the hollow tree like the rest of their kind, and before they could take a closer look at the outside world, they could only watch the sap slowly flow out and wrap them up, and the end of the fly couple was already sealed.
Unfortunately, the little fly couple could have had a great future, and as long as they kept flying, the fly couple would be able to pass on their genes for a grand "genetic journey".
However, both sides maintained this awkward position until 41 million years later, when they were dug out of the tree and placed in the exhibition hall, where the fly couple could be seen mating.