Two flies died while mating 41-million years ago found in Amber Fossil

Australia : Two mating flies, which apparently died while mating, have been found under the sticky amber fossil. The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

It looks like the gluey resin of the tree engulfed the flies while they were in the middle of the act. The resin that hardened over the years, turned into a frozen amber.

It has been estimated that the flies have remained in the mating position for almost 41 million years now.

Jeffrey Stilwell, a palaeontologist and the co-author of the paper, believes that these flies might have accidentally landed on the resin to mate. Jeffrey is a professor at Monash University in Melbourne.

Other than the frozen flies, the study also found 6,000 pieces of fossilised amber. These were found from the rocks which are estimated to be 54 to 40 million years ago.

"Amber is considered to be the 'Holy Grail' in the discipline, as organisms are preserved in a state of suspended animation in perfect 3D space, looking just like they died yesterday,” said Jeffrey.