 Is the 87-million-year-old praying mantis recently found encased in amber in Japan a “missing link” between mantises from the Cretaceous period and modern-day insects?
It is a rare find indeed and its true significance is still to be deciphered.
Discovered in January of this year by Kazuhisa Sasaki, director of the Kuji Amber Museum, the fossil mantis measures 0.5 inch (1.4 centimeters) from its antennae to the tip of its abdomen.
It was found buried more than six feet below the surface of an amber mine in a part of Japan that is famous for producing large amounts of amber, the northeastern Iwate Prefecture.
“I found it in a deposit that had lots of other insects—ancient flies, bees, and cockroaches—but this was the only praying mantis†said Sasaki.
 The fossil mantis is partially well preserved, although its wings and abdomen are badly crushed.
According to Kyoichiro Ueda, executive curator of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History, it is the oldest mantis fossil ever found in Japan and only one of seven in the entire world from the Cretaceous Period.
Even more unique is the fact that this mantis is different from the other six, in that it has two spines protruding from its femur and it has mysterious, tiny hairs on its forelegs.
No mantis from this particular time period has ever been found with spines, although modern mantises have five or six on their forelegs, which help them catch prey.
“The years of the late Cretaceous period were a kind of transition phase between the ancient and modern worlds, and this fossil displays many intermediate elements between the two eras†said Ueda.
Time alone will reveal the significance of this important find.
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yay….first…..that mantis is reallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy old
LOL
yeah, i met one like this while playing monster hunter…
FFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
yeah its fake. thats why its on nation geographic dumbass
1 inch = 2,54 cm so 0,5 inch =1,27 cm not 1,4
Seeing as it was from Japan it would’ve been measured in the metric system and I suppose the author thought it was a good idea to convert it to the less accurate imperial system for backwards thinking Americans. So the actual measurement was 1.4 cm whereas the closest imperial measurement that wasn’t a long number was 0.5 inches.
Then again, 1.4cm is closer to 0.6 inches than 0.5 inches so I would assume it was just under 1.4cm, maybe 1.39 cm or something
why don’t those big nations stick to the old imperial system, which varies from country to country when you have the perfectly adequate metric system which is based on scientific facts (ie weight of water, size of earth…) I just can’t understand !
Joan Rivers?
oh comon…
That old praying mantis looks much younger than Joan Rivers. I mean look at it…
Impossible. God created the world in 6 days. How are scientists meant to know how old a rock is? LOL Why the magic number of so many millions? That’s like me picking up a rock and saying “hey this is a billion years old!” and you believing it just because i’m called a scientist.
i think there is a serious flaw in your reasoning. As with most creationists.
why the magic number of so many millions ?
It has nothing to do with you picking up a rock. It has to do with molecular analysis of carbon 14 present in all elements.
If you believe that science is not useful at all, then why do yo take medicine when you are ill ? It’s the same science that heals your pain with the right molecules, that is also capable of retrieving such data from fossils.
Double standards ?
err. wrong. C14 is only good for less than 100,000 year. greater ages (million plus) are determined by Potassium-Argon or Strontium-Rubidium in the associated rock. Zircon are also used.
thanks for sharing your knowledge !
Jimmy, I suggest educating yourself on fossil dating methods. The information is out there. Just use Google. Here is a random article on the topic to start you off:
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/benton.html
Thank you all for your comments, particularly you, Reyda.
I think this is fake aswell, but thanks for the article anyway..
I wonder if there are any plans to put it on display. I would like to see that.
ME TOO
I read somewhere that the male mantis cannot copoulate with its head on so the female mantis tears his head of to start the mating.
Is this then a 87 million year female or a old virgin in amber?
Old mantis is ooooold.
Fart sicles, I want that MANTIS and your going to give it to me. Please?
I have a praying mantis, and it eats like it lives to eat.
I see dead mantis
Byeeeeeeee
HAHAHA You people are all wrong. You belive that this is a real 87 million year old mantis. They just created a fake model using a weird looking FAKE mantis.
He is so cute but not the old one I hate to see the body because it is crushed.All of you are wrong in nice words but in mean words SHUT UP!You guys should not be on a pray mantis website if you guys are just going to blaber about crap.NOW GOOD DAY.NOT.Ok not good day I am tring to prove a point here.I know that I am a little harsh and I am sorry for that its just an endangered species and I am tring to save it.Please try to help me do this job it is very hard to do it by myself.TRY.