Overview
- The Jena-led team reports the findings in Scientific Reports and releases an online 3D model for global comparison.
- Researchers re‑located about 40 Baltic amber pieces from Goethe’s collection in Weimar, identifying insect inclusions in two specimens.
- The ant, roughly 3 millimeters long, preserved fine hairs and internal head and thorax structures resolved by synchrotron imaging at DESY.
- Morphology indicates affinities with the living genus Liometopum, supporting inferences that the species likely nested in trees.
- The work involved Friedrich‑Schiller‑Universität Jena, Senckenberg, Klassik Stiftung Weimar, and DESY, with the curated pieces remaining at the Goethe‑Nationalmuseum.