New Glittering Fossils of Daddy Long-legs Found

#insectdiversity #insectanatomy #insectmorphology #insecttaxonomy #entomology #insects

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Recent fossils of perfectly preserved daddy-long legs (Opiliones) were documented from a German shale pit, which have near perfect iridescence preserved.

Article: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12549-024-00607-4.pdf
Bartel, Christian, Jason A. Dunlop, and Sonja Wedmann. "Iridescent harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae) from the Eocene of Messel, Germany." Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 104.4 (2024): 963-975.

Thumbnail: Photo courtesy of Ryosuke Kuwahara; inaturalist.org