Scientists Find Beatle That Pollinated Flowers 99 Millions Years Ago

• 
  Share

  via Futurity

  When scientists were deep inside a mine in northern Myanmar earlier this year, they had no idea that they would find evidence that insects were pollinating flowers a full 50 million years earlier than they believed. 

  But that's exactly what they found: a tumbling flower beetle with pollen on it's legs, preserved in amber. This beatle comes from the mid-Cretaceous period, when tyrannosaurus rexes were wandering around the land.
  

  
  

• 
  Share

  via Futurity

  62 grains of pollen were found on the legs of the beetle, and scientists say that the shape and structure of the pollen shows that it evolved to spread through contact with insects. These features include clumping, the size of the pollen, and ornamentation. The pollen, however, wasn't easy to find. It was hidden in the insect's body hairs and had to be found using a flourescent light. 

  The insect is also a new species of beetle, which has been named Angimordella burmitina. Through examining several physical structures of the beetle, including it's body shape and pollen-feeding mouthparts, the scientists concluded that the beetle had the role of a pollinator during it's time in existence. 

• 
  Share

  via Futurity

  Before Angimordella burmitina was found, the earliest evidence of insect pollination of flowering plants came from Middle Eocene, 50 million years after the beetle's time. Furthermore, the chance of finding an insect and pollen inside the same fossil is extremely rare.

  This discovery gives us yet another tiny piece of the puzzle regarding the history of the Earth before humans came around. I'm sure that little beetle had no idea how important it would turn out to be, 99 million years later.
  

  
  

Tags