In the ancient amber found a flea with the causative agent of the plague

In amber by the age of twenty million years, scientists discovered the probable ancestor of microorganisms to which humankind owes one of the most deadly epidemics in history - the “black death” of the 14th century.

Then more than a third of the population of Europe died from the plague.

A sample of amber was found on the territory of the Dominican Republic, between Puerto Plata and Santiago. Twenty million years ago this area was covered with tropical forests. Bacteria were found on the flea's proboscis, as well as in the posterior intestine.

“Fossil bacteria do not only resemble the plague pathogen (Yersinia pestis). Their presence in the posterior intestine and proboscis is also characteristic of modern plague bacteria. This location is associated with the peculiarities of flea transmission of pathogens, ”said study author entomologist George Poinar.

In addition, Poinar examined the shape and size of bacteria with a high-magnification microscope. The special shape (sticks and spheres) distinguishes Yersinia pestis and freshly discovered microbes.

Previously, it was believed that fleas turned into carriers of infections, dangerous to animals and people, only twenty thousand years ago. The new discovery forces to revise this theory, says Poinar. It is quite possible that the unknown outbreaks of the bubonic plague were caused by the Yersinia pestis strains that have disappeared so far.

These bacteria could theoretically evolve over many millions of years. It is possible that they are involved in the extinction of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs, Poinar believes.