Paleontologists discovered the long-mouthed worm 100 million years ago

Xinhua News Agency, Nanjing, March 5 (Reporter Wang Wei ) reporter from
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology was informed that by China, Russia, France, the United States, a team of paleontologists, the latest in about 100 million years ago in the Cretaceous Myanmar amber found a species of ancient insects related to mosquitoes. These insects are similar to mosquitoes in body shape and feeding style, but have an "ultra-long mouth" more than half the length of their bodies, making them "strange relatives" of mosquitoes in ancient times.
research was published March 5 in the journal Science Advances.
, a researcher at
Institute of Southern Paleontology who led the study, said the newly discovered ancient insects were named the Burmese scorpion. They are about 7 mm long and look very much like an enlarged version of a mosquito. But mosquitoes have one pair of wings, and myanmar scorpions have two pairs. The other difference is that mosquitoes generally have shorter mouths, while burmese scorpions have "ultra-long mouths" of 3 to 4 mm long, with mouths that are even more than half the length of their bodies.
the "super-long beak" of the Burmese scorpion also has a complex internal structure. It consists of two semi-cylindrical coats on the outside and a long tongue in the middle. The mouth opens like three long spikes sticking out together to form a Trident-like shape. And when the spike pierced the barrier and successfully obtained the food, the outer two-flap jacket closed to form a closed "sucker" through which the food entered the burmese scorpion.
" animal forms are closely related to their living environment. Mosquitoes' mouths and wings are now significantly different from those of the Burmese scorpion 100 million years ago, which is likely to indicate a significant change in the external environment, such as the plants on which they feed. Based on this, we can restore the backsling to get more valuable information about the ancient environment. Wang Bo said.