Extinct Insect Completely Reconstructed in 3-D

ScienceDaily    " Its stay on this planet was actually meant to be a very short one. Male twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera) usually have a life span of only few hours. However, accidentally a specimen of Mengea tertiara, about the size of an aphid, became preserved for 'eternity': during its wedding flight about 42 million years ago it was caught in a drop of tree resin and subsequently almost perfectly conserved in a piece of amber..."

Anaglyph image in 3D: 

3D-reconstruction of the fossilized twisted-wing Mengea tertiaria (Strepsiptera) from approx. 

42 million years ago (colon green, musculature red, nervous system yellow). 

Insect researchers at german University Jena have reconstructed a fossile conserved in a piece of amber with the help micro-computer tomography. 

(Credit: Hans Pohl/University Jena).


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