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Microbes 100M Years Old Found In Termite Guts

Posted by kdawson on from the mutualism-in-action dept.

viyh writes with coverage on MSNBC of the discovery of ancient microbes fossilized in the gut of a termite. "One hundred million years ago a termite was wounded and its abdomen split open. The resin of a pine tree slowly enveloped its body and the contents of its gut. In what is now the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar, the resin fossilized and was buried until it was chipped out of an amber mine. The resin had seeped into the termite's wound and preserved even the microscopic organisms in its gut. These microbes are the forebears of the microbes that live in the guts of today's termites and help them digest wood. ... The amber preserved the microbes with exquisite detail, including internal features like the nuclei. ... Termites are related to cockroaches and split from them in evolutionary time at about the same time the termite in the amber was trapped."

21 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. but is there any dinosaur dna in there? by spiffmastercow · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, we *could* clone the microbes preserved in amber.. But that's just not as exciting, is it?

    1. Re:but is there any dinosaur dna in there? by CarpetShark · · Score: 3, Funny

      I mean, we *could* clone the microbes preserved in amber.. But that's just not as exciting, is it?

      What's not exciting about out-of-control velocotermites?

  2. Summer block buster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    One hundred million years ago a termite was wounded and its abdomen split open

    That would make a better film than most of the crap out there at the moment.

    1. Re:Summer block buster by ari+wins · · Score: 4, Funny

      Make the hero another female, and throw in a hot sex scene in the amber mines of Mynnamar, and I'll buy the first ticket.

      --
      Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac, you can always take something for it.
    2. Re:Summer block buster by theskipper · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hot lesbian termite sex?

      I dunno. Maybe.

    3. Re:Summer block buster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hot lesbian termite sex?

      Probably not... termites prefer wood.

    4. Re:Summer block buster by TeknoHog · · Score: 2, Funny

      Aren't terminates hermaphrodites?

      Dunno about terminates, but thermites are thermaphrodites, at least when in heat.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  3. Epic Advemture by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is it just me, or does the summary read like the start of a legend that serves as prelude to an epic adventure?

    "One hundred million years ago a termite was wounded and its abdomen split open. The resin of a pine tree slowly enveloped its body and the contents of its gut. In what is now the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar, the resin fossilized and was buried until it was chipped out of an amber mine.

    I want to go on a quest to this "Myanmar" place and find the termite amber and throw it into the nearest volcano before the Evil One's minions get their hands on it.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
    1. Re:Epic Advemture by ozbird · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is it just me, or does the summary read like the start of a legend that serves as prelude to an epic adventure?

      You have been disemboweled.

      Restore, Restart, or Quit?

    2. Re:Epic Advemture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      One does not simply walk into Myanmar

  4. OMG! That's why they went extinct...GACK! by refactored · · Score: 3, Funny

    *Cough* ...these microbes killed all the dinosaurs and now they have got m

  5. 100M year old bugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds like the work of Microsoft.

  6. 100 million? by adamwpants · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't you mean 6,000?

    --
    This is my signature. There are many signatures like it, but this one is mine.
  7. Screw that! by msimm · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just clone the meat! Delicious dinosaur meat.

    --
    Quack, quack.
    1. Re:Screw that! by fireheadca · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is what killed them off, their tastiness.

  8. Quote of the Day by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Some primal termite knocked on wood.

    And tasted it, and found it good.

    And that is why your Cousin May

    Fell through the parlor floor today.

    -- Ogden Nash

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  9. Re:Yes, but it's in Chickens, not frogs by rhyder128k · · Score: 4, Funny

    This tech can only lead to one thing: John McCain II for 2032!

    --
    Michael Reed, freelance tech writer.
  10. Re:Amber preservation by rrohbeck · · Score: 4, Funny

    And then revive him from DNA? Now there's material for a horror movie. "Politician Park."

    --
    thegodmovie.com - watch it
  11. Coming to theatres... by adosch · · Score: 2, Funny

    Jurassic Amoeba... coming to theaters everywhere Summer 2009. ...it's not the veloci-raptor this time, it's the fearsome mitosis!

  12. Re:Amber preservation by Randle_Revar · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, shit, the Cheney got loose!

    --
    Climate Progress - Hell and High Water
  13. Re:I'm confused. by Nazlfrag · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's easy to find, it's north of Kampuchea, to the west of French Indochina and Siam and to the east of Hindustan and Bengal.