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Science 5 March 1982:
Vol. 215. no. 4537, pp. 1241 - 1242
DOI: 10.1126/science.215.4537.1241
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Articles

Ultrastructure of 40-Million-Year-Old Insect Tissue

GEORGE O. POINAR JR. 1 and ROBERTA HESS 1

1 Division of Entomology and Parasitology, University of California, Berkeley 94720

Examination of the ultrastructure of preserved tissue in the abdomen of a fossil fly (Mycetophilidae: Diptera) entombed in Baltic amber revealed recognizable cell organelles. Structures that corresponded to muscle fibers, nuclei, ribosomes, lipid droplets, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria were identified with the transmission electron microscope. Preservation was attributed to inert dehydration as well as the presence of compounds in the original sap which functioned as natural fixatives. This evidence of cell organelles in fossilized soft tissues represent an extreme form of mummification since Baltic amber is considered to have formed about 40 million years ago.

Submitted on September 17, 1981
Revised on December 10, 1981


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