First Fossil of Blood-Filled Mosquito Discovered 46 Million Years Old

Through a series of events that scientists themselves admit was “extremely improbable,” a mosquito that feasted on the blood of Eocene animals some 46 million years ago managed to die and become trapped in sediment, but remain in tact, all while carrying a belly full of blood — its last meal.

The result, recently discovered in some oil shale from northwestern Montana, is the first fossil of a mosquito found still engorged with ancient blood.

Fossil mosquito

This fossil mosquito, found in oil shale in northwestern Montana, is the first to be discovered with the remains of a blood meal still in its abdomen (PNAS/Greenwalt et al.)

The discovery was announced in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to the lead researcher of the study, Smithsonian Institution paleontologist Dale Greenwalt, this is only the fifth instance of blood-eating, or hematophagy, by any insect to be revealed in the fossil record, and it’s the first in a mosquito with traces of blood that his team calls “incontrovertible.”

Most fossils of blood-eating insects that have been found are of midges, a kind of biting fly, trapped in amber, the team points out. But since mosquitoes typically prefer open habitats near water, rather than forests full of sap-bearing trees, finding preserved remains of mosquitoes has been rare.

In addition, the scientists note, not all species of mosquito eat blood, and even in those that do, it’s only the females that partake.
Western Digs

This is so cool. When are we going to have a dinosaur theme park is all I want to know. I am going to be armed that’s for sure. This is close enough to the movies I am taking precautions to not repeat the storyline.

reply to post by Grimpachi


When we find one from the right time period. Dinosaurs were 65.95mya give or take 400k.

Still would be interesting to find out what blood is in its gut.

"You will never find ancient DNA in amber. It is completely destroyed and deteriorates after a couple of hundred thousand years. Jurassic Park is wonderful science fiction," he said.

www.independent.co.uk...

Epic Buzzkill, eh? No Jurassic Park though that method....

Jurassic Park coming to a state near you.

reply to post by Grimpachi


I've already seen this movie.

Also, doesn't DNA break down after awhile?

reply to post by shaneslaughta

Dinosaur's might be cool, but what if the only viable DNA that comes out of if is for some ancient mosquito that is immune to all our pesticides? or some bacteria or viri in that blood sample that we have no immunity for?

Man what a let down.

When I saw this on the news I was exited like a kid in a candy shop...But then I read there is no way that we currently know of to extract the DNA from the fossil. I mean there might be quantum traces of DNA but not in a way we can extract it.

Guess time travel or alternate dimensional travel will be the only way I see real dinosaurs.. that or back engineered chickens...

Lysergic
reply to post by Grimpachi

 

When we find one from the right time period. Dinosaurs were 65.95mya give or take 400k.

Still would be interesting to find out what blood is in its gut.

"You will never find ancient DNA in amber. It is completely destroyed and deteriorates after a couple of hundred thousand years. Jurassic Park is wonderful science fiction," he said.

www.independent.co.uk...

Epic Buzzkill, eh? No Jurassic Park though that method....

edit on 14-10-2013 by Lysergic because: (no reason given)

Hi Mr Lysergic..hi OP..you to great! This is great discovery..but sir, may i ask question that always in my mind when 5 minute after this thread posted by op..
1.is there any change we unlock the very2 degerous virus from million years ago?
2.if they can extract the blood from the mosquito then they will prove that the extinction of dinosaur?
Ummm i am still wonderin..find something from million years ago is just like open pandorabox to me..SnF

reply to post by Grimpachi


What a find OP, Thanks for sharing. S+F

I wonder how long it will take to actually get a DNA sample from this muskito's belly? It could be decades before we even find out what species got stung by it.

I hope I am around to find out though!!!

Lets say they do create a dinosaur.What if it's a tyrannosaurus?
Who could afford to feed it? Where will it be kept?

reply to post by cheesy


The blood is probably not usable but it's fun to imagine. I couldn't find anything says says it can or can't but I kind of doubt they would say if they could anyway.

Well in 20 years if there is a island dinosaur theme park we will know for sure.

Grimpachi
reply to post by cheesy

 

The blood is probably not usable but it's fun to imagine. I couldn't find anything says says it can or can't but I kind of doubt they would say if they could anyway.

Well in 20 years if there is a island dinosaur theme park we will know for sure.

ok Grimpachi

This Could Be

Dinosaur Soft Tissue is Original Biological Material
kgov.com...

T rex Blood Vessels and Blood Cells!!!!



See the Pics !!! WOW!! Huh!!

kgov.com...

msnbcmedia3.msn.com...

SCIENCE & NATURE
Dinosaur Shocker
Probing a 68-million-year-old T. rex, Mary Schweitzer stumbled upon astonishing signs of life that may radically change our view of the beasts that once ruled the earth
www.smithsonianmag.com...

Read more: www.smithsonianmag.com...
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

scientific community attack and deny dinosaur soft tissue and blood ve


Exactly If blood vessel can survive millions of years what about DNA within it


Let Look Again

kgov.com...

msnbcmedia3.msn.com...



We dont Need No Stinking blood sucking Insects!!

I can't help it...

Jurassic Park cloning video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMsJe3TymqY
www.youtube.com...




The soft tissue issue verifies the Science Books are again ready for a re-write...

shale deposits in Montana USA....

i still go with Amber... but in either the Lithuania or Belarus regions as the place to find actual embedded blood deposits from fly/mosquito specimines....

i speak of a 'story' that originated around 1975, in SC... way before the Jurassic Park concept became a event in our time-line

even the Titor remarks about 'prions' & the western worlds meat protein sources being unsustainable was given a place at the banquet table... the SC 'story' of breeding dinosaurs as a new meat-protein source was addressed

- see, the global warming caused the sea-levels to rise and the Chesapeake Area became uninhabitale for humans,
the land was reverted to a primal swamp/riparian area in which to clone dinosaurs from the sample blood found in the European Amber with a blood filled mosquito in it...and allow these creatures to forage on the plantlife, and the barges of garbage brought in daily from Jersey & NYC, then thos herbiverous creatures to be 'harvested' into the human food chain instead of chickems/pigs/bovines that were prion damaged meat sources



the only person to even ask to 'use' that 'story' was a man named E. Lloyd who was installing wall paper at the time...but skipped out owing me $600 in unpaid rent on top of probably stealing that 'dinosaur' story & selling it (the synopsis) to Creighton or someone else


but thats all another tale about the actual presence of raw blood encased in something ;like amber or a strata of shale... which was considered very unlikely before that 'movie'....

TiM3LoRd
Man what a let down.

When I saw this on the news I was exited like a kid in a candy shop...But then I read there is no way that we currently know of to extract the DNA from the fossil. I mean there might be quantum traces of DNA but not in a way we can extract it.

Guess time travel or alternate dimensional travel will be the only way I see real dinosaurs.. that or back engineered chickens...

They do have viable DNA of several species. Sixty minutes did story on guy working on all this and he had DNA for mastodon. Last word he was moving forward with it but not sure where project is now. Lol

Different groups have DNA but there are natural worries about bring anything back.

The Bot

cavtrooper7
Lets say they do create a dinosaur.What if it's a tyrannosaurus?
Who could afford to feed it? Where will it be kept?

North Korea sounds like an option.

Wait a minute....

46 Million years and hasn't changed...

hmmm...

reply to post by AbleEndangered


Errr... How did you arrive at that conclusion?

Since when did the sentence stateing it was much LIKE a modern mosquito equate to hasn't changed?

EnhancedInterrogator
reply to post by shaneslaughta

 

Dinosaur's might be cool, but what if the only viable DNA that comes out of if is for some ancient mosquito that is immune to all our pesticides? or some bacteria or viri in that blood sample that we have no immunity for?

For the same reason that they can't get DNA to clone an animal from this, the same applies with Bacteria etc, seeing as they have DNA/RNA too. So no, we won't unleash a super plague.

cheesy
2.if they can extract the blood from the mosquito then they will prove that the extinction of dinosaur?

No, because this Mosquito was around 20 million years after the Dino's vanished, not that I see why extracting the blood would prove the extinction. Surely there absence from the world is proof of their extinction?

cavtrooper7
Lets say they do create a dinosaur.What if it's a tyrannosaurus?
Who could afford to feed it? Where will it be kept?

C'mon, read the article. It's from the Eocene period, so no dinosaurs.

AbleEndangered
Wait a minute....

46 Million years and hasn't changed...

hmmm...

Ah, a creationist who doesn't understand evolutionary theory.. Pray tell, what is your point? If an organism can survive without adaptation, why would it change? Only environmental pressures drive evolution and if there are always animal round to feed off, where is the pressure for the organism to adapt? Adapt to what?

reply to post by stumason


Were you here in human form 46 Million years ago??

Did you see for yourself that Mosquito was here 46 million years ago??

Did that Mosquito bite you 46 Million years ago??

and now your DNA is stuck in him, and when they clone him they are gonna make a Stuart Frog Man??

reply to post by AbleEndangered


Contrary to popular belief, I am not that old, so no I wasn't in any form 46 mya

Apart from that, the rest of your post does not make much sense.

However, the bug was found in rocks which can be confidently dated to 46 mya, so it stands to reason it must be the same age. I am sure there will be subtle differences in that bug to modern day mosquito's, but the point I was making is that if an organism is successful in it's environment, there is little to no pressure on it's population to adapt, therefore meaning that it is less likely to evolve.

Conversely, there was ample evolutionary pressures on early mammals coupled with the huge vacuum left by the absence of the dinosaurs, so evolutionary pressure on mammals was intense, leading to an explosion of life forms. The mosquito though, having an ample supply of animals to feed on be they dino, mammal or otherwise, should remain relatively unchanged over the same period.