American student Leah Mock has discovered a previously unknown species of ancient sawfly that lived around 50 million years ago in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. The new species has been named Anoplonyx rasnitsyni.
The fossil was found in deposits of the Green River Formation in western Colorado. The specimen is almost completely preserved, with only the legs missing. It was among more than 15,000 specimens in the museum's collection that Mock was studying.
The new species was identified from barely noticeable features of the insect's structure. In particular, the researchers found a small vertical vein in the wing and distinctive features of the antennae, visible only under a microscope. To confirm the uniqueness of the find, Mock sent images to specialists in Paris, who confirmed that such an insect had not previously been found in the fossil record.
The research helps to refine understanding of the diversity of animal life in the Eocene epoch. At that time, a chain of lakes lay between mountain ranges in the area of the present-day Green River Formation.
Leah Mock studies the interplay between processes that took place on Earth and the evolution of living organisms. In future, she plans to continue researching ancient ecosystems as a postgraduate student.
