Lizard Found Trapped in Amber

ScienceNOW: “Headless Dragonfly Trapped in Time” We’ve all seen photographs of insects, arachnids, and other small creatures trapped in amber. But a lizard?

If the amber were indeed 100 million years old, as is claimed, it would contain the oldest dragonfly specimen ever discovered in amber.

A hunk of amber found in Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar) preserves a headless dragonfly along with the foot and tail of a lizard—a strange juxtaposition frozen in time. According to Oregon State University–Corvallis paleontologist George Poinar, who reports on the find in an upcoming issue of Palaeodiversity, the most likely story is that the lizard had just attacked the dragonfly and therefore “probably had the dragonfly’s head in its mouth” when both creatures were trapped in resin.

If the amber were indeed 100 million years old, as is claimed, it would contain the oldest dragonfly specimen ever discovered in amber. More interestingly, ScienceDaily reports that “the study and others like it continue to reveal the similarities of behaviors and ecosystems separated by many millions of years[.]” Poinar adds:

“Dragonflies are still eaten by small lizards every day[;] it’s a routine predator/prey interaction. This shows once again how behaviors of various life forms are retained over vast amounts of time, and continues to give us insights into the ecology of ancient ecosystems.”

Studies in Costa Rica confirm that even “modern” lizards enjoy munching on dragonflies if they have the opportunity. Of course, this should be no surprise for creationists; if the amber is on the order of thousands of years old rather than millions, we would certainly expect to find significant similarities of behaviors and ecosystems between the time periods.

For more information:

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