Ancient Tapeworm Found Trapped In 100-Million-Year-Old Amber Sample By Chinese Researchers
Kachin amber from the mid-Cretaceous period was discovered in Myanmar. Experts say finding a tapeworm from this era is highly rare. It may include DNA evidence from its prehistoric host.
Chinese researchers published a study claiming to have discovered a partially intact prehistoric tapeworm in a 100-million-year-old amber sample.
Where was the ancient tapeworm fossil discovered?
Ancient tapeworm was discovered in Myanmar| Image: Newsweek
Kachin amber from the mid-Cretaceous period was discovered in Myanmar. According to specialists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, finding a tapeworm from this era is highly rare, and it may include DNA evidence from its prehistoric host.
Tapeworms can range in length from less than a millimetre to over 30 metres. They can infect humans and livestock and thrive in practically any habitat.
How is the research related to Jurassic park?
The discovery is remarkable, evocative of the start of the science fiction blockbuster Jurassic Park, in which scientists utilized prehistoric mosquito remains to extract the DNA of extinct species from a time when dinosaurs controlled the planet.
The study reminds of science fiction blockbuster Jurassic Park | Image: YouTube Screengrab
According to the study's principal author, Luo Cihang, the current find is the most convincing body fossil of a platyhelminth yet discovered.
According to study, the tapeworm may have become trapped in a host's gut since the Early Cretaceous period. The Cretaceous epoch is commonly referred to as the final stage of the "age of dinosaurs."
This could imply that the tapeworm transports DNA samples from a variety of dinosaurs, such as the big, predatory Deinonychus, the horned Carnotaurus, or the gigantic Carcharodontosaurus, whose head was greater than that of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
What did the study say about the amber fossil?
The study emphasizes that the amber was deposited on the coast, implying that its host could have been a marine dinosaur. One theory is that the host was caught on land and died, allowing the tapeworm to escape the host's intestines and move out onto sticky amber.
Another possibility is that the tapeworm-infested sea animal was eaten by a dinosaur that lived on land. If its host is eaten, the tapeworm may make its way out and become trapped in the amber.
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