Hundreds of bees mummified in their cocoons appear in Portugal
Hundreds of bees were found fossilized inside cocoons in Portugal, as if they were mummies in sarcophagi. Scientists discovered a paleontological site on the coast of Odemira with the remains of insects that lived 3,000 thousand years ago in an extremely rare state of conservation.When a bee dies, its body decomposes and pulverizes in a few days due to its composition based on layers of chitin protein. As happens with other bodies, that of honey producers goes through stages such as dehydration, bacterial decom [b][url=https://www.latestdatabase.com/]Phone Number List[/url][/b] position and consumption by other organisms, where the soft elements become part of the food chain.
The cocoons discovered contained specimens of Eucera longicornis, or better known as long-horned bees. The insects were about to emerge from their containers. The discovery has paleontologists intrigued. They do not have an answer to explain why hundreds of bees died suddenly to be preserved for three millennia. The best hypothesis they have is that it could have been due to a drastic drop in nighttime temperatures during the winter or a prolonged flood in the area. The rest of the colony that disintegrated died from asphyxiation or cold.
Hundreds of bees mummified in their cocoons appear in Portugal
“In Carreira Brava, one of the sites studied, bees were found ready to leave their cells in an exceptional state of conservation within the sealed brood chambers. The chambers also retain the hydrophobic polymerized membrane of the inner cell and remains of the monospecific pollen supply. Anaerobic conditions and the subsequent diagenetic lithification of carbonates are the probable causes of the preservation of the bees and the internal organic membrane of the cells,” says the document published in Papers in Paleontology .
When they analyzed the cocoons, the researchers easily identified the sex of the bees and the supply of monofloral pollen with which they were nourished while they emerged. With the help of tomography, paleontologists obtained three-dimensional images of the insects without disturbing the hermetic seal of their natural container.
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The bee sarcophagus site is part of a research project in Portugal. In addition to the one on the Odemira Coast, the researchers discovered 3 other sites with high density of cocoon fossils. Eucera longicornis is one of the 700 species of the insect that currently exist in Portugal. In the world, it is estimated that there are around 20,000 species of them and not all of them form hives and produce honey.
Bees play a vital role in ecosystems by being key pollinators, contributing to biodiversity, promoting food production and maintaining natural balance. For this reason, scientists do not stop studying them and promoting their preservation. Recently, for example, it was found that bees need "dance teachers" to learn the correct way to move and communicate with the rest of their society. It is also studied how its incorporation into cities could reduce the temperatures generated by global warming.
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