World’s earliest known mosquito larva found trapped in 99-million-year-old amber
Record-breaking discovery of 99-million-year-old fossil
- The world's oldest known mosquito larva, dating back 99 million years to the Cretaceous era, has been discovered preserved in amber from Myanmar.
- Named Cretosabethes primaevus, this fossil is the first mosquito larva found in amber from this period, offering new insights into insect evolution.
- Unlike previously found mosquito fossils from the same era, this larva closely resembles modern species, suggesting that extinct and contemporary forms coexisted.
- Scientists described its preservation as a "rare stroke of luck," as it required tree resin to fall precisely into a small body of water to encase the aquatic larva.
- The discovery indicates that mosquitoes had already diversified by the Jurassic period, with their larval morphology remaining remarkably consistent for almost 100 million years.