Oldest insects in amber discovery

From the Daily Mail in Britain:

The 230 million year old ‘Jurassic Park‘ bugs found perfectly preserved in amber

Insects are 100 million years older than any other amber arthropod ever collected
Arthropods first to be found in amber from the Triassic Period
Find echoes the amber preserved insect used to recreate dinosaurs in the hit film

By Mark Prigg

PUBLISHED: 10:12 GMT, 28 August 2012 | UPDATED: 11:08 GMT, 28 August 2012

Scientists have found the oldest bugs ever to be preserved in amber.

The specimens, one fly and two mites, were found in millimeter-scale droplets of amber from northeastern Italy.

They are about 100 million years older than any other amber arthropod ever collected.

They oldest record of arthropods—invertebrate animals that include insects, arachnids, and crustaceans—preserved in amber.

The group’s findings, which are published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pave the way for a better evolutionary understanding of the most diverse group of organisms in the world.

…

Even though arthropods are more than 400 million years old, until now, the oldest record of the animals in amber dates to about 130 million years.

The newly discovered arthropods break that mold with an age of 230 million years.

They are the first arthropods to be found in amber from the Triassic Period.

230-Million-Year-Old Fly and Mites Found in Amber: here.

A fifth of animals without backbones could be at risk of extinction, say scientists: here.

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