Fossil of world’s oldest wasp discovered in Ticino

Excavations in Ticino have uncovered 248 fossilised insects dating back 239 million years. Among the finds along the Gaggiolo stream near Meride is the oldest wasp found to date. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox These insects from the Triassic period were brought to light during the palaeontological excavations of the Ticino Cantonal Museum of Natural History (MCSN) in Lugano between 2020 and 2023, the Ticino authorities said on Thursday. They date from the time before dinosaurs dominated the earth. The discoveries shed light on the evolution of some insect groups after the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period around 251 million years ago, according to an article in the journal Communications Biology, to which the Ticino authorities referred. + Chuchichäschtli: squid species named after tricky Swiss-German word Despite their small dimensions of between two millimetres and 2.5 centimetres, the fossils are exceptionally well preserved, which in ...