When you hear the word fossil something lie this likely comes to mind, the calcified remains of a long dead creature, only revealing its internal skeletal structure. However, now some fossils of long-dead insects might provide more clues about their true colors long lost to time, as researchers have discovered a way to simulate the fossilization process.
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00:00 When you hear the word fossil, something like this likely comes to mind.
00:07 The calcified remains of a long dead creature, only revealing its internal skeletal structure.
00:12 However, now some fossils of long dead insects might provide more clues about their true
00:16 colors long lost to time, as researchers have discovered a way to simulate the fossilization
00:22 process.
00:23 They took modern day beetles with distinct spots and splotches and baked them at temperatures
00:27 approaching 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.As they baked, the researchers noticed that their
00:31 color patterns disappeared, but the melanin-rich spots reappeared at the end of the baking.
00:35 This left the original color pattern more or less intact at the end of the process,
00:39 confirming that the patterns we see on fossilized insect remains are likely their original looks.
00:44 With the researchers writing about their findings, "Our data represent the first empirical
00:48 evidence that the monochromatic patterns in compression fossils of insects are biological
00:53 in origin and represent melanin-based color patterns."
00:56 They add that this could open up new avenues of research altogether, showing how color
01:00 patterns change and evolve over time.
01:03 With the researchers adding, "It could also yield valuable insights into the functional
01:07 evolution of insect colorization, behavior, and physiology in ancient ecosystems."
01:13 -Erik Erikson, ESO.
01:14 Transcription by ESO; translation by —
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01:16 ESO; translation by —
01:17 ESO; translation by —