A small, ancient beetle might provide clues to how the Earth's landmass shifted, a study says.

Researcher Shuhei Yamamoto believes a beetle trapped in piece of Burmese amber from 99 million years ago is the distant ancestor to insects found on the other side of the world today.

He came upon this beetle in 2016, and now he thinks could provide more evidence for the theory of continental drift.

"Like koalas and kangaroos today, certain animals that we think lived in Gondwanaland are only found in one part of the world. Although Propiestus went extinct long ago, our finding probably shows some amazing connections between Southern Hemisphere and Myanmar," Yamamoto said. "Our finding fits well with the hypothesis that, unlike today, Myanmar was once located in the Southern Hemisphere."

Yamamoto published his findings in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

No bigger than the tip of an iPhone charger, the Propiestus lived under rotted tree bark in what is now Myanmar while dinosaurs roamed much of the earth.

"This is a very rare find," said Yamamoto, a researcher at Field Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study.

Today, Propiestus' closest relative is the rove beetle, with a population of nearly 64,000 worldwide. Some rove beetles live in Arizona, but most are believed to inhabit the Southern Hemisphere.

Researchers think Myanmar and South America once fused to form the megacontinent Gondwanaland, which broke off from the larger megacontinent Pangaea.

Many scientists believe Pangaea was once a mass of all of today's combined land. The theory continues that plate tectonics broke up Pangaea and all subsequent mega continents to create today's layout of continents.

Some also think this led to the far distance between the current-day rove beetle and its Propiestus ancestor.

Further research on this theory would require "searching for supporting or contrasting evidence means analyzing fossils, some as small as Propiestus, to compare their similarities to other organisms discovered across the globe that might have inhabited the same space long ago," a Field Museum press release said.

"This fossil helps us understand life in the Mesozoic era," Yamamoto said. "We need to think about everything from that time, both big and small."

Related Links
Tectonic Science and News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Mexico's 2017 Tehuantepec quake suggests a new worry
Eugene OR (SPX) Oct 26, 2018
Last September's magnitude 8.2 Tehuantepec earthquake happened deep, rupturing both mantle and crust, on the landward side of major subduction zone in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico's far south coast. Initially, it was believed the earthquake was related to a seismic gap, occurring where the Cocos ocean plate is being overridden by a continental plate, in an area that had not had a quake of such magnitude since 1787. Subduction zone megaquakes generally occur near the top of where plates converge. ... read more