A snail in amber 99 million years ago

Snails embedded in amber are rare. The two specimens recently found are from the Cretaceous period, when powerful tyrannosaurs walked the Earth. The researchers estimated that 99 million snails fell into the amber trap years ago.

The snail in amber is in a very good state. The shell of one of them remained intact. You can also see some of the soft tissues of the snail. A second individual found in the same piece of amber is in slightly worse condition. Researchers believe that the specimens found are ancestors of the snail family in terrestrial Cyclophoridae.

The specimens are young and difficult to identify unambiguously, although they have several morphological features that re are por comparable to those observed in living species Cyclophoridae. Interestingly, the better preserved snail m survive for some time after being trapped in amber.

„The soft parts of the snail are highly stretched, which may mark the final pr that we have to escape from a trap that However, they were unsuccessful. Considering that the snail was buried in tree resin while still alive, this may explain the pronounced distortion of the preserved soft tissues” – they write on the pages of „Cretaceous Research” Scientists studying amber.

The piece of amber containing the mollusks was purchased from a private collector in 2016. Perfectly preserved soft tissue of a snail There are about 70 million years older than any other snail tissue identified so far.

photo. Cretaceous Research

pic. Cretaceous Research

– Resin has exceptional preservative properties, preserves the finest details organism in the millions of years ago in years in excellent, tr jdimensional space. These specimens look like they were simply trapped in resin yesterday – said Jeffrey Stilwell, a paleontologist at Monash University in Australia.

Amber with snails was found in Mayzm (formerly Burma). In recent years more and more often amber nuggets with interesting prehistoric specimens sunk inside. They are a treasury of knowledge about the most The snail is a well-preserved soft tissue of more common creatures, which that lived on Earth millions of years before us. They provide a unique insight into the history of ancient ecosystems in, with fossil evidence of moss , plant, spider in, strange worms and other creatures.