2,500-year-old beetle fossil found in Nara

Japanese archaeologists have discovered the nearly perfectly preserved remains of a stag beetle, estimated to be over 2,500 years old.

The 6-centimeter body fossil was found in soil around a tree root that had been unearthed at an archaeological site in the city of Gose, Nara Prefecture. The tree root is believed to be between 2,500 and 2,800 years old.

Hard-bodied insect fossils are rarely found intact, because membranes connecting the head and legs to the body tend to decompose.

Yasuhiro Nakatani of the Kashihara City Museum of Insects says the fossil shows that this type of stag beetle hasn't changed in shape for thousands of years.
He says genetic analysis of the remains could provide clues to the natural environment back then.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 15:57