Hundreds of mummified bees that lived in the time of the pharaohs found in Portugal (photo)

Hundreds of mummified bees in their cocoons, which are almost three thousand years old, have been found on the southwestern coast of Portugal in a new palaeontological site on the Odemira coast.

According to PÚBLICO, this method of fossilisation is extremely rare. It is the skeleton of these insects that usually decomposes quickly because it has a chitinous composition, which is an organic compound.

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The study, published in the international journal Papers in Paleontology, notes that the degree of preservation of these bees is so exceptional that scientists were able to identify not only the anatomical details that determine the type of bee but also their gender and even the supply of monofloral pollen left by the mother when she built the cocoon.

Paleontologist Carlos Neto de Carvalho, who coordinated the project, noted that four paleontological sites with a high density of bee cocoon fossils were found. These sites were found on the coast of Odemira.

These cocoons made almost 3000 years ago are preserved like a sarcophagus, hiding young individuals of the Eucera bee that have never seen the light of day. This is one of approximately 700 species of bees that still exist on the Portugal mainland.

Earlier, scientists recorded the strange behaviour of a spider: it attacked a victim 10 times its size.

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