Fireflies emit bioluminescence along the coast of Pingtan, China and Fujian.
This research was conducted by Professor Wan Xiaoqiao from China Geo University, Associate Professor Xi Dangpeng, Associate Professor Xing Lida, Dr. Benjamin sams from Vienna University and Ryan? Professor Ryan C. McKellar studied with other scholars.
Outline of Lithopod Specimens in Myanmar
Ostracoda belongs to crustaceans, also known as shrimp or ostracods. They are very small, usually only 0.5 to 2 mm long. Ostracoda is wrapped in two shells, and its back has a hinge structure, which can be opened and closed freely. Because ostracods have a long history, large population and wide distribution, calcified shells are easily buried by sediments to form fossils; More importantly, at different stages of evolution, there will be some subtle differences in their shells, and specific species will appear in specific geological periods. Therefore, ostracods have become very important standard fossils and are often used to determine the stratigraphic age.
The newly discovered ostracods come from the famous amber producing area-Hugang Valley, Kachin State, northern Myanmar. According to the determination of volcanic ash, the amber here is about 1 100 million years ago, belonging to the earliest late Cretaceous. During this period, animals and plants living in the humid tropical environment in northern Myanmar were often wrapped in resin sheds by conifers, which formed amber in the long geological age and have been preserved to this day.
Rock fish in Burma
"As a typical aquatic animal, ostracods are very rare in amber. At present, the only records of ostracods appear in Cenozoic, such as Russian Eocene amber and Mexican Miocene amber." Xing Lida told the reporter, "The ostracod we announced this time is the first record of this animal in Mesozoic amber, and the most special thing is its huge size."
Compared with 0.5-2 mm long ostracods, the length of Myanmar specimens is close to 13 mm, and such a large ostracod is very rare. Taxonomically, Burmese specimens are classified as Ostracoda Leguminosae. Dr. Benjamin James, an ostracod expert, said: "Lypoda animals are all marine animals, and their shells are large and their calcification is weak." "Myanmar specimens are single-petal molting shells, which are very fragile. Thanks to the excellent storage medium of resin, it can be preserved to this day. "
Vargula Mountain under Scanning Electron Microscope
In this pearl body, in addition to Ostracoda, there are insect excrement particles and the remains of eggs, but Ostracoda is separated from other inclusions by obvious streamline. This shows that the resin first wrapped the ostracods on the ground, and after drying, another resin came to wrap the insect droppings and egg spiders.
Xing Lida also introduced that Myanmar specimens are very similar to the species of Abalone in Calliphoridae. When some abalone ostracods are stimulated, some glands secreted by them contain luminescent substances, which produce pale blue luminescence, creating a magnificent life landscape-at night, the whole sea area shines with this clear light. Although amber fossils cannot reveal this biological feature, it is still a potential possibility.
The discovery of ostracods of Abalone in Myanmar shows that the local resin was produced in the marginal sea environment and then wrapped the complete marine ostracods of Abalone. This information is very important for us to understand the ancient environment of amber forest in Myanmar and the evolution of ostracods.