An international investigation, in which the Department of Zoology at the University of Granada participated, allowed Discover Anticus Calliarcysa species of insect that has not yet been described, belonging to the order ephemeroptera (or mayfly).
The specimen was identified by Arnold Staniczek, of the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart (Germany), In a piece of Baltic amber With an estimated age Between 35 and 47 million years oldinforms the University of Granada.
The work of specialized microtomography of the professor of zoology at the University of Granada, Javier Alba Trsidore, made it possible to obtain clear images of the insect for its study and detailed description.
Plants such as conifers (and some legumes) protect themselves by oozing out resin, a thick, sticky liquid, in reaction to bark damage.
Insects are often trapped in this resin, something that has been going on for millions of years, causing many to survive. preserved inside petrified resin Which is known as amber.
According to the University of Granada, amber deposits are found in various parts of the world, including northern Spain, but those in the Baltic Sea are the most abundant.
In many casesAlba Tsedor explains, Preservation of samples inside the amber is excellent The transparency of the material that surrounds it allows it to be seen and studied under a microscope in full detail.
But in other cases, the transparency is not good, opacity areas are formed that make it impossible to study certain details”, and in these cases, X-ray microscopy (a technique similar to that used in hospitals to study the organs of patients) is of great value for studying fossil specimens preserved in amber;
When Arnold Stanicek, the famous specialist in angle-wings, noticed the piece from the Baltic Sea, it was completely transparent, but showed glassy areas surrounding some areas, such as the end of the abdomen, where the male reproductive system (genitalia) is located, which is essential to characterize the species and be able to Distinguish between other types.
In the Microtomography Unit of the Department of Zoology at the University of Granada, Alba Tresidore reconstructs the entire insectincluding those areas whose amber opacity has made it impossible to notice.
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The participation of Roman Godonko, from the Institute of Entomology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, made it possible to identify undescribed species of mayflies, which It belongs to the genus Calliarcys, the first described species of which was found on the Iberian Peninsula.
The study was completed with DNA analysis of the current species of the genus.
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