The fossil isn't a new find but was wrongly identified as an ant when it was first discovered in the 1920s. Fig wasp expert at the University of Leeds, Dr. Steve Compton, was called in to study the fossil when the late Dr. Mikhail Kozlov spotted the mistake during research at the Natural History Museum, London into the flora and fauna of the Isle of Wight. The findings of Dr. Compton and the team are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
"There were three very well-preserved specimens and we were able to use modern techniques to look at them in detail," says Dr. Compton. "What makes this fossil fascinating is not just its age, but that it is so similar to the modern species. This means that the complex relationship that exists today between the fig wasps and their host trees developed more than 34 million years ago and has remained unchanged since then."
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