LMU Researchers Identify 100-Million-Year-Old Bug With Giant Claws, Naming New Genus
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · May 17
LMU Researchers Identify 100-Million-Year-Old Bug With Giant Claws, Naming New Genus
2 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · May 17
100-million-year-old amber from Myanmar’s Kachin region preserved a newly identified true bug with oversized front-leg claws, which LMU researchers named Carcinonepa libererrantes.
Micro-CT scans and a shape analysis of more than 2,000 grasping structures showed the chelae were unlike those of other insects, marking only the fourth known independent evolution of such claws in insects.
The fossil was classified as a true water bug within Heteroptera, but its body resembles modern toad bugs, suggesting a terrestrial predatory lifestyle in a Cretaceous coastal forest.
The giant chelae likely helped it seize small insects, while the genus name references crab-like limbs and the species name nods to K-pop group Stray Kids.
What drove an ancient insect to evolve crab-like claws, a feature so rare it has only appeared four times in insect history?
This crab-bug was found with new tech. What other secrets are hiding in plain sight within our museum collections?
Beyond this K-pop tribute, what other modern celebrities have been unexpectedly immortalized as ancient species?