In a paper published in the journal Cretaceous Research, Oregon State University researchers described a never-before-seen insect species found in a piece of 100-million-year-old amber excavated from a mine in Myanmar (previously known as Burma).
Aethiocarenus burmanicus in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The specimen originated from the Noije Bum 2001 Summit Site mine excavated in the Hukawng Valley in 2001 and located southwest of Maingkhwan in Kachin State, Myanmar; based on paleontological evidence this site was dated to the late Albian of the Early Cretaceous, placing the age at 97 to 110 million years ago. Image credit: G. Poinar Jr. / A.E. Brown.
“Amber from Myanmar has revealed very interesting fossils, many of which represent extinct lineages that have no close association with any extant groups,” the authors said.
“Previous examples include flies with horn-like protuberances emerging from their heads, a fossil bee with some features carried over from ancestral wasps and a bizarre wingless wasp lacking any indication of a waist.”
“Now we describe a wingless insect that displays features unknown in any extant 59 or extinct insect order.”
The insect, named Aethiocarenus burmanicus, has a triangular head, almost-alien and ‘E.T.-like’ appearance.
“I had never really seen anything like it,” said Prof. George Poinar, Jr., lead author on the paper.
“This insect has a number of features that just don’t match those of any other insect species that I know.”
“Perhaps most unusual was a triangular head with bulging eyes, with the vertex of the right triangle located at the base of the neck. This is different from any other known insect, and would have given this species the ability to see almost 180 degrees by turning its head sideways.”
“The strangest thing is that the head looked so much like the way aliens are often portrayed. With its long neck, big eyes and strange oblong head, I thought it resembled E.T.”
Aethiocarenus burmanicus probably lived in fissures in the bark of trees, looking for mites, worms or fungi to feed on while dinosaurs lumbered nearby. It was tiny, but scary looking.
The insect, probably an omnivore, also had a long, narrow, flat body, and long slender legs.
It could have moved quickly, and literally seen behind itself.
It also had glands on the neck that secreted a deposit that Prof. Poinar and his colleague, Alex Brown, believe most likely was a chemical to repel predators.
Aethiocarenus burmanicus has been assigned to the newly created order Aethiocarenodea.
“It appears to be unique in the insect world, and after considerable discussion we decided it had to take its place in a new order,” Prof. Poinar explained.
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G. Poinar Jr. & A.E. Brown. 2017. An exotic insect Aethiocarenus burmanicus gen. et sp. nov. (Aethiocarenodea ord. nov., Aethiocarenidae fam. nov.) from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Cretaceous Research 72: 100-104; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2016.12.011
