00:03When you hear the word fossils, something like this likely comes to mind.
00:07The calcified remains of a long-dead creature, only revealing its internal skeletal structure.
00:12However, now some fossils of long-dead insects might provide more clues about their true colors long lost to time,
00:18as researchers have discovered a way to simulate the fossilization process.
00:23They took modern-day beetles with distinct spots and splotches and baked them at temperatures approaching a thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
00:29As they baked, the researchers noticed that their color patterns disappeared, but the melanin-rich spots reappeared at the end
00:35of the baking.
00:36This left the original color pattern more or less intact at the end of the process, confirming that the patterns
00:41we see on fossilized insect remains are likely their original looks.
00:44With the researchers writing about their findings, quote,
00:47Our data represent the first empirical evidence that the monochromatic patterns in compression fossils of insects are biological in origin
00:54and represent melanin-based color patterns.
00:56They add that this could open up new avenues of research altogether, showing how color patterns change and evolve over
01:02time.
01:03With the researchers adding it could also yield valuable insights into the functional evolution of insect colorization, behavior, and physiology
01:11in ancient ecosystems.
01:13They learn overall, principles of anthropological dating and underlying beetles
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