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"Vampire" Parasite Found Entombed in Amber
from National Geographic News
The first known fossil of a rare bloodsucker called the bat fly has been found in 20-million-year-old amber. What's more, the ancient bug was host to bat malaria, an even rarer find, according to a new study.
George Poinar, Jr., an expert on insects preserved in amber at Oregon State University, discovered the bat fly in a mine in the Dominican Republic. Although the newfound genus is extinct, bat flies still exist today, feeding exclusively on bats' blood. Some of the insects have even become specialized to live on specific bat species.
While there are hundreds of known bat fly species, most are poorly understood.
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