Researchers Discover Exquisitely Preserved Testicle from 50-Million-Year-Old Katydid Fossil
A team of paleontologists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have made a stunning discovery – the preserved testicle of a 50-million-year-old katydid. The ancient insect fossil, known as Arethaea unmarried, was found in northwestern Colorado and has provided new insights into the reproductive anatomy of these creatures.
The fossilized katydid was found on a slab of stone, approximately the size of a BLT, with its delicate legs, antennae, and wings intact. What surprised the researchers the most was the exceptional preservation of the insect’s soft internal organs. The fossil revealed the dark smear of the gut, traces of muscle fibers, and a rounded organ located at the end of the abdomen, resembling a tiny testicle.
Sam Heads, the director of the Prairie Research Institute’s Center for Paleontology, expressed his astonishment upon making this discovery. When he first examined the fossil, he instantly recognized the testicle accompanied by tube-shaped accessory glands. Heads was initially skeptical but later confirmed that the organ was indeed a testicle.
To further examine the preserved soft tissues, Heads dissected modern katydids in the same genus, Arethaea. He found identical structures, including coiled guts, accessory glands, and round testes, confirming the ancient katydid’s reproductive organs.
Heads and his team have published their findings in the journal Palaeoentomology where they describe the new extinct species as Arethaea unmarried after Leellen Solter, an insect pathologist who recently retired from the same research center.
Although only one testicle is visible in the fossil, it is believed that the ancient katydid originally possessed two, similar to its modern counterparts. Due to the fossil’s squished position and preservation, only one side of the anatomy is visible.
This discovery is significant, as preserved soft tissues in compression fossils are a rarity. The fossilized phallic complex of a male assassin bug was the closest comparison, but the katydid fossil provides a more extensive preservation of a bug’s genitalia.
Interestingly, some modern katydids are known for their exceptional testicle size. The tuberous bush cricket, Related to Platycles, holds the record for having the largest testes proportional to body mass in the animal kingdom. The bush cricket’s testes account for 14 percent of its body weight, exceeding the 10.6 percent of a fruit fly’s total size.
The precise mass of the preserved testicle in the fossil remain a mystery due to the passage of time. However, the researchers noted that many insects from the same rock formation in Colorado show a pattern of well-preserved internal anatomy but poorly preserved external parts. This unusual phenomenon raises the possibility of discovering more 50-million-year-old testicles in the future.
This extraordinary find demonstrates the value of studying fossils in uncovering previously unknown aspects of ancient organisms. The study of preserved soft tissues provides a unique window into the biology and reproductive anatomy of organisms that lived millions of years ago.
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Sources:
– University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
– Palaeoentomology Journal