Scientists find 2 flies trapped in amber that died while mating 41 million years ago

Scientists have found 2 mating flies trapped in prehistoric amber and it is being estimated that the flies have remained in that position for almost 41 million years now. Yes, you read that right.

The pair of flies was discovered from a haul of unusual fossils recovered from sites across Australia and New Zealand. The findings of the study were recently published.

According to Jeffrey Stilwell, a palaeontologist and the co-author of the paper, the flies were mating when they accidentally got trapped in gluey resin of a tree which eventually hardened over the years.

"I looked at the piece under the microscope, and when I looked at it, I felt it looked really important, because it looked like they're almost attached or something," said Stilwell while speaking about this rare discovery. "I couldn't believe it - it looks like they're mating," he added.

Stilwell calls this "frozen behavior" because according to him, "absolutely nothing happened in the moments between when the flies were living and when they died and became entombed."

Apart from the mating flies, the scientists also discovered ants, spiders, midges, and several other insects trapped in amber.

Source:indiatoday