3D images of pupae over 300 million years

Experts from the University of Manchester (UK) used 3D technology to study 305 million-year-old pupae.

3D figure of the specimen named Anebos phrixos

British scientists say high-resolution CT scans have allowed them to recreate prehistoric pupae, relying solely on the only evidence in the field to be holes in the stone.

By placing boulders on CT scanners and capturing more than 3,000 X-ray images for each of the different angles, experts can create images of these birds in practice, according to a PLoS ONE report.

While an object has many similarities with the current cockroach species, the other specimen has pointed vertebrae and no longer exists.

Both, about 2cm long, dating back to the end of the Stone Age, were members of the Polyneoptera, including cockroaches, mantis, crickets, locusts and earworms.

Russell Garwood, the team leader, said the Coal Age was the time when the first amphibians were insectivores.

He hopes the new discovery will allow scientists to better understand biology, the development of primitive insects and key evolutionary steps to help them survive today.