New Species Discovered in Amber Collection

A piece of amber collected 50 years ago has yielded a species that was previously unknown to science. A new species of cricket from 20 million years ago was preserved in the amber.

As reported by the Washington Post, the amber was collected in the 1950’s and sat in a lab at the Illinois Natural History Survey until recently. Researchers have been examining the amber and expect to find other new discoveries.

“You don’t have to go out into the jungle to make discoveries,” said paleontologist Sam Heads. “You can make them in a museum, and that’s what we’re doing here every day.”