Scientists have found that four shrimps are intact in a 99 million-year-old amber fossil. The results were published in the international journal Science Bulletin on the 5th Beijing time.
(Restoration of the living environment of shrimp in amber fossils, courtesy of Yunnan University)
Amber is a fossil formed by ancient plant resins buried in formations for a long time and molecularly polymerized. The amber is from the Hugang Valley of Kachin State in northern Myanmar and is currently in the collection of a museum in Kunming. It is about 13 cm long and contains four intact shrimps that are of the same shape and belong to the same species. Because the dorsal carapace of the second ventral segment of the specimen is triangular and has an articulated structure in the middle of the lateral side of the ventral segment, the researchers classified it as a suborder of suborder Bulbophyllum Decapoda.
(Amber fossil image courtesy of Yunnan University)
Through advanced imaging techniques such as microct and synchrotron radiation, researchers further found that the upper and lower edges of the shrimp's frontal horns have teeth, no posterior spines, and thin and smooth exoskeletons, which can be classified into the shrimp family, but it is different from the known species of the shrimp family, so scientists named it "Amber Shrimp".
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(The amber fossil under advanced imaging technology is provided by Yunnan University)
Liu Yu, one of the corresponding authors of the paper and a professor at Yunnan University, said: "As a member of the shrimp family, its modern 'relatives' are well known, such as the common bamboo shrimp, South American white shrimp, etc., it can be speculated that these amber shrimp living in the Cretaceous Period were the delicacies of predators at that time." ”
Speaking of the formation of this amber, Liu Yu deduced: "The resin fell or flowed from the tree, wrapping various small animals at the root of the tree or in shallow water. The shrimp's heads are oriented in much the same direction, indicating that they were wrapped in resin at the same time, and since there is no sign of decay on their bodies, it can be judged that they were wrapped in a resin mass when they were alive or just dead. ”
To the researchers' surprise, the amber also contained a number of rare biological groups, including 19 beetle larvae, and marine animal groups such as ammonites, bivalves, marine lilies, and corals. "This rich combination suggests that the Cretaceous-era Hugang Valley of Burma was a suitable habitat for many types of animals." Liu Yu said.
The study was jointly completed by China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Yunnan University, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Comprehensive Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Royal Museum of Saskatchewan, Canada, and Harvard University in the United States.
Reporter: Yue Ranran
Editor: Liu Yuanyuan