Amber

Chimerarachne is a newly-discovered species of ancient spider that sports a tail

Science

Ancient spider with a tail found preserved in amber

Scientists have discovered a brand new species of spider, with a feature that’s not normally seen in the creatures – a tail. If that’s making your skin crawl, take solace in the fact that the new arachnid, dubbed Chimerarachne, lived 100 million years ago and its remains were found trapped in amber.

A hard tick clutches at a dinosaur feather in a 99-million-year-old piece of fossilized amber

Science

Ancient amber seals away first direct evidence of dinosaur blood-sucking ticks

Scientists have long suspected that ticks feasted on the blood of dinosaurs. Preserved in a 99 million-year-old chunk of amber lies a hard tick grasping the feather of a dinosaur, suggesting that the parasitic insects did indeed harbor a penchant for prehistoric plasma.

Researchers have found a section of a dinosaur tail with feathers, from a species of Coelurosaur, preserved in amber

Biology

Dinosaur tail, complete with feathers, found in amber

There’s only so much palaeontologists can learn about prehistoric animals from fossilized bones, so on rare occasions when ancient soft tissues turn up, it’s worth taking note. Now a section of a dinosaur’s tail, complete with feathers, has been found trapped in a piece of amber.

A piece of Baltic amber showing a never-before-seen mushroom, the remains of an insect's exoskeleton and an animal hair

Science

Ancient bug scared out of its own skin escaped amber ambush

A new amber discovery showcases a drama that took place about 50 million years ago when a bug go so startled, it jumped out of its own exoskeleton.