180-Million-Year-Old Cockroach Fossil Found in UK

[Still Waters]

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of Jurassic cockroach, Alderblattina simmsi, based on an isolated wing found in Gloucestershire, the United Kingdom.

The newly-described cockroach species lived during the Toarcian age of the Early Jurassic epoch, some 180 million years ago.

Named Alderblattina simmsi, it had a relatively small size and distinct wing coloration.

“Color patterning in insects, including on their wings, is primarily interpreted to be a physiological adaptation and/or used for protection against predation, or sexual signaling,” the paleontologists said.

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/alderblattina-simmsi-13379.html