Early Cretaceous (Berriasian)

Yixian Formation

Huangbangi Valley, Beipiao, Liaoning Province, China

18mm insect on 60mm slab.

Insect.

Here’s an insect from around the time many modern groups of insects began appearing – part of a radiation in response to the appearance and rapid distribution of flowering plants.

It would be an interesting and affordable addition for a fossil insect collector looking for something much older than what he has from the Cenozoic.

We’re trying to reach a Cretaceous insect expert but we’re still on hold.  We asked the next-door neighbor and he said it was some kind of critter.