Overview
- A study published December 16 in Royal Society Open Science reports the first fossil evidence of bees nesting inside pre-existing bone cavities.
- Researchers worked in a limestone cave in the southern Dominican Republic where barn owls had amassed piles of hutia and other animal bones over generations.
- CT imaging revealed smooth, nest-like cells within tooth sockets and vertebrae, with preserved pollen consistent with provisions left for developing larvae.
- One hutia tooth socket held six stacked cells, indicating successive generations reused the same cavity after earlier nests were abandoned.
- Age estimates reported in coverage range from more than 5,000 years to around 20,000, and no bee bodies were preserved, leaving species identity and precise dating unresolved as researchers analyze additional fossils recovered during a recent rescue effort.