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Topic: Prehistoric colors preserved in beetle fossils

marvin !H0G.H/BnJg started this discussion 15 years ago #12,414

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/beetle-fossil-colors/?pid=2189

In a study published Sept. 27 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers led by Yale University paleogeologist Maria McNamara analyzed 10 of these spectacular beetle fossils, ranging from 15 million to 47 million years old, which owe their enduring shades to the phenomenon of structural coloration. Unlike pigments, which generate color from light bouncing off a chemical, structural colors are produced by the interaction of light with nanometer-scale surface geometries.

If especially fine-grained sediments replace a dead beetle’s decomposing body, the resulting fossil should replicate its hues, too. “Structural colors don’t need chemicals at all,” said McNamara. “What we wanted to find out was, what kind of structures in the fossils make the color? And are the colors we’re seeing today in the fossils the same as when beetles were alive millions of year ago?”

This one is from Messel, Germany, and is approx. 47 million years old.

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marvin !H0G.H/BnJg (OP) double-posted this 15 years ago, 58 seconds later[^] [v] #222,997

From Eckfeld, Germany. Approximately 40 million years old.

marvin !H0G.H/BnJg (OP) triple-posted this 15 years ago, 58 seconds later, 1 minute after the original post[^] [v] #222,998

Leaf beetle from the Clarkia fossil beds in Idaho. Approximately 15 million years old.

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