First-Ever Tapeworm Fossil Discovered in 100-Million-Year-Old Amber

The groundbreaking find, a result of international collaboration, offers unprecedented insights into the early evolution of tapeworms.

An international team of researchers led by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered the first-ever proper fossil of a tapeworm in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from Myanmar.
The fossil, believed to be about 100 million years old, represents a significant find in understanding the early evolution of tapeworms, as their soft tissues and endoparasitic habitats make preservation extremely rare.
The tapeworm specimen likely came from an elasmobranch fish like a ray or shark, which was stranded on a prehistoric coastline, eaten by a predator or scavenger, leading to the tapeworm's tentacle being trapped in resin.
This discovery sheds new light on the early ecological interactions between parasites and their hosts, as well as the conditions that allow for the exceptional preservation of soft-bodied organisms in amber.
The fossil provides crucial insights into the diversity and evolutionary history of tapeworms, suggesting that the relationship between tapeworms and their marine vertebrate hosts has existed for at least 100 million years.