Ancient, 100-Million-Year-Old Bee Fossilized in Amber With Traces of Pollen

Some 100 million years ago, a bee became stuck in tree resin. Trapped, without any chances of escape, it was preserved in time until scientists decided to analyze the ancient remains in detail. To the surprise of experts, the incredibly-preserved bee revealed unprecedented data, revealed an entirely new family, genus, and species of minute, stem lineage pollen-collecting bees.

Embedded inside amber, the bee was unveiled after professor George Poinar Jr. from the Oregon State University analyzed it revealed an entirely new family, genus and species.

According to reports, the fossil, which dates back to the Middle Cretaceous, and discovered in Myanmar provides the first record of a primitive bee with pollen and also the first record of beetle parasites, which continue to appear in today’s modern bees.

Surprising, unexpected, yet a great find for science, the discovery has been detailed in the Journal BioOne Complete and sheds new light on the early days of bees, a key component in the evolutionary history as well as diversification of flowering plants. Read the free article.