87-million-year-old Praying Mantis Found Encased In Amber

An amazing discovery at an amber mine in Iwate Prefecture:

An 87 million-year-old fossil of a mantis found cocooned in amber in Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, is the oldest mantis discovered in this country, according to the Kuji Amber Museum.

The late-cretaceous fossil was discovered at an excavation site near the museum.

Museum Director Kazuhisa Sasaki found the fossil, which measures about 14 millimeters from the head to the crushed abdomen. Kyoichiro Ueda, the executive curator at the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History in Kitakyushu, examined the fossil and found a femoral spine at the base of the foreleg that was used to catch prey. The spine is a common characteristic of mantises today.

Ueda said previously discovered cretaceous mantises did not have the spines.

“This mantis is likely a newly discovered species,” he said. “This could be a great discovery that fills a gap in the evolution of the mantis.”

According to National Geographic, the mantis will be on display at the Kuji Amber Museum until June.