Researchers discover fossil of ancient spider attack - The Bell Jar [fornadablog.blogspot.com]

Researchers discover fossil of ancient spider attack - The Bell Jar [fornadablog.blogspot.com]

「水中の女性美」ã‚'追求しております。私が監督した、水中オンリ ーのイメージＤＶＤ「in the Water è«'ミネア」です。販売は下記サイトにて行って おりますので、よろしくお願いします。 www.netjp.co.jp underwater movie "in the Water"Minea

---

---

[fornadablog.blogspot.com], Researchers discover fossil of ancient spider attack - The Bell Jar

Credit: Flickr

Oregon State researchers find fossil of ancient spider attack.

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a fossil of an ancient spider attack. According to a university report, this is the only fossil ever found of a spider attack on prey caught in its web.

OSU researchers located the fossil in a piece of amber. The researchers believe that the spider attack likely occurred in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar in the Early Cretaceous between 97-110 million years ago.

During the Early Cretaceous, climates were changing and the numbers of dinosaurs were increasing. The Early Cretaceous was also very warm. In fact, most areas of the world were characterized by tropical and semitropical jungles.

Researchers say that the piece of amber also compromised the body of a male spider in the same web. This, researchers contend, is the oldest evidence of social behavior in spiders. The majority of spider lead solitary lives and males are extremely aggressive, jumping at the chance to attack inexperienced species in the same web.

“This juvenile spider was going to make a meal out of a tiny parasitic wasp, but never quite got to it,” said George Poinar, Jr., a professor emeritus of zoology at Oregon State University, in a statement.

“This was a male wasp that suddenly found itself trapped in a spider web,” Mr. Poinar said. “This was the wasp’s worst nightmare, and it never ended. The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them.”

Researchers consider spiders to be ancient invertebrates that date back 200 million years. However, the oldest fossil of a spider is only about 130 million years old. This is the first time that an attack between a spider and its prey has been fossilized.

Researchers believe that tree resin was responsible for preserving the spider attack. Tree resin, which forms amber, will also flow over other insects and small plants. The fossilization that occurs when tree resin flows over something in its path allows researchers to glimpse life forms from millions of years ago.

According to Mr. Poinar, the particular type of wasp being attack by the spider typically lays a parasite in spider and insect eggs. Researchers say that approximately 15 strands of spider silk run through the amber piece, several of which have captured the wasp.

The findings were recently published in the journal Historical Biology.

Recommend Researchers discover fossil of ancient spider attack - The Bell Jar Articles

---

VISITA Y COMPARTE CON TUS AMIGOS EN LAS REDES SOCIALES www.powplop.tv Síguenos en Facebook: facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com Tumblr: tumblr.powplop.tv "Hacemos lo que nos gusta" Powplop 2012 El Water - ¿Qué opinas de las mujeres?

Posted in: