1. Preserved for 230 million years in droplets of amber just millimeters long, two newly named species of mites and a fly have set a record. They are the oldest arthropods – invertebrate animals that include insects, arachnids, and crustaceans – ever found in amber.  Researchers screened 70,000 amber droplets, resulting in the three arthropod inclusions. Read the full story: http://bit.ly/NA6nRN Image: Photomicrographs of the two new species of ancient gall mites, taken at 1000x magnification. The gall mites were named (top) Triasacarus fedelei and (bottom) Ampezzoa triassica.  (University of Göttingen/A. Schmidt)

    Preserved for 230 million years in droplets of amber just millimeters long, two newly named species of mites and a fly have set a record. They are the oldest arthropods – invertebrate animals that include insects, arachnids, and crustaceans – ever found in amber. 

    Researchers screened 70,000 amber droplets, resulting in the three arthropod inclusions. Read the full story: http://bit.ly/NA6nRN

    Image: Photomicrographs of the two new species of ancient gall mites, taken at 1000x magnification. The gall mites were named (top) Triasacarus fedelei and (bottom) Ampezzoa triassica.  (University of Göttingen/A. Schmidt)

  2. Researchers have described two new ancient species of South American rodents, including the oldest known chinchilla. These specimens, among others, suggest new information about the geological history of the Andes mountains. Read on here: http://bit.ly/Mm8eKF Pictured here: The fossilized jaw of the oldest chinchillid rodent, Eoviscaccia frassinettii, which is related to the modern chinchilla (© AMNH/M. Ellison)  

    Researchers have described two new ancient species of South American rodents, including the oldest known chinchilla. These specimens, among others, suggest new information about the geological history of the Andes mountains. Read on here: http://bit.ly/Mm8eKF

    Pictured here: The fossilized jaw of the oldest chinchillid rodent, Eoviscaccia frassinettii, which is related to the modern chinchilla (© AMNH/M. Ellison)

     

  3. Museum graduate student Edward Stanley recently used high-resolution x-ray images of tiny “armor” bones to help an international team of scientists discover a new species of lizard from remote, war-torn mountains in Central Africa. This CT scan of Cordylus marunguensis shows the lizard’s osteoderms, tiny bony plates of armor in the animal’s scales. Read more here.  © AMNH/E. Stanley

    Museum graduate student Edward Stanley recently used high-resolution x-ray images of tiny “armor” bones to help an international team of scientists discover a new species of lizard from remote, war-torn mountains in Central Africa. This CT scan of Cordylus marunguensis shows the lizard’s osteoderms, tiny bony plates of armor in the animal’s scales. Read more here. 

    © AMNH/E. Stanley