100-million-year-old bug had crab-like claws unlike any known insect

Deep inside 100-million-year-old amber from Myanmar, scientists uncovered a bizarre ancient bug with clawed front legs that look more like a crab’s pincers than anything seen in modern insects. The discovery is so unusual that researchers say these crab-like “chelae” evolved independently in this lineage, making it only the fourth known example of such structures appearing in insects at all. Now, researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) have identified a newly discovered true bug (Heteroptera) with one especially unusual feature. Its front legs ended in large claw-like structures that resemble the pincers of crabs. The... [2484 chars]