Cockroach 35 million years old found in amber in Kaliningrad region

An enclosure with a cockroach, estimated by experts to be 35-40 million years old, was discovered at the Kaliningrad Amber Plant Rostec. This was announced on Thursday, June 26, by the press service of the state corporation.

An insect from the order Blattodea, which is preserved in a piece of honey amber, was found during manual sorting. A cockroach weighing 7 g has frozen in the petrified resin of ancient relic trees near the surface. This allowed the experts to examine the thin mesh of wings, legs and head.

"This is the largest representative of cockroaches that we have discovered over the past five years. It is at least 35-40 million years old. This is certainly not the cockroach that lives now, but similar species can still be found in the tropics these days," said Anna Dugina, gemologist at the Kaliningrad Amber Plant.

According to the press service of the state corporation, tens of millions of years ago, due to the warm climate and forest fires, the resin of trees was in a liquid state, therefore it became a trap for insects that got into it, for example, with gusts of wind. Then, sticking to the surface, they were filled with several more layers of resin.

Earlier, on June 12, archaeologists discovered the last lead seal from the time of Ivan III in Romanov Lane in Moscow. It was clarified that the object was found in the layer of the first half–the middle of the XVI century. The exhibit became the most valuable find, despite the fact that over 3 thousand objects were discovered in just a few years.