eli5 Is a 30 million year old praying mantis encased in Amber even a mantis?

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I saw an article on a mantis encased in Amber that’s 30 million years old. assuming mantis reproduce once a year, this thing is like 30 million generations removed from a modern mantis. It might not even be able to reproduce with a modern mantis Even if it does look exactly the same.

I looked into humans as a comparison and even 10 million years ago, the modern human didn’t even exist. there’s a good chance we’re too separated from them to reproduce or even be considered the same species. so wouldn’t that also apply to this 30 million year old mantis.

In: Biology

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Saying “mantis” is like saying “primate”.

A 30 million year old primate is not going to be a human, but it will still be a primate.

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