Before causing misery to humans today, this creature’s ancestors may have also “overthrown” the dinosaurs.

A precious piece of amber from Lebanon has preserved the completely intact body of a small but fearsome creature that lived in the Jurassic period.

It is a new species of mosquito , with male “monster” mosquitoes that not only have blood-sucking needles but also sharp mandibles.

Ancient mosquitoes preserved in Jurassic amber – (Photo: CURRENT BIOLOGY).

This amazing fossil is rare evidence of a blood-eating creature from the Jurassic period . Although it was as small as today’s mosquitoes, it may have had the power to knock down dinosaurs in the same way that their descendants caused many serious diseases to humans. modern people.

All female mosquitoes alive today are blood and nectar feeders. But, scientists were not sure when this blood-eating behavior developed.

A team of authors from Lebanon University, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Paris National Museum of Natural History (France) analyzed this specimen.

According to results published in the journal Current Biology , the new fossil not only shows that the blood-feeding behavior of mosquitoes has appeared at least since the Jurassic period, but also shows that at that time, male mosquitoes were also “vampires”. “.

The newly revealed fossil specimens also show surprising integrity, from tiny jaws, blood-sucking needles to thin wings. These organisms also represent a new species recently named Libanoculex intermedius .

They also belong to a new, extinct subfamily of mosquitoes, called Libanoculicinae.

The new discovery also pushes back the first evidence of the appearance of mosquitoes from the Cretaceous period to the Jurassic period, as well as showing that the insect world of this era was extremely rich.

It also once again enhances the value of Lebanese amber , which paleontologists are always hunting for.

“Lebanese amber is by far the oldest type of amber rich in biological impurities, a very important material because its formation coincided with the appearance and beginning of the spread of plants has flowers” – Sci-News quoted Dr. Dany Azar from Lebanon University, co-author.