Wormholes from Centuries-Old Art Prints Reveal the History of the Worm (2 of 3) (IMAGE)
Caption
A new technique is the first of its kind to use printed art as a "trace fossil" to precisely date insect species and to identify their geographical locations. Blair Hedges, a professor of biology at Penn State University, developed the technique and used it to examine art printed from woodblocks spanning five centuries. He then identified the species responsible for making the ever-present wormholes in European printed art since the Renaissance. These diagrams show the position of a typical woodblock in a hardwood tree, tunneling by a worm-like beetle larva, and an adult beetle emerging through a "wormhole."
Credit
S. Blair Hedges, Penn State University
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