World's 'oldest' spider web found

Two brothers have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest recorded spider's web encased in amber on an East Sussex beach.

The amber, which was found in Bexhill, was formed about 140 million years ago in the Cretaceous period.

Amateur fossil hunter Jamie Hiscocks and his brother Jonathan also found the fossilised remains of a Iguanodon jaw bone on the coastline.

The spider web thread is now being studied at Oxford University.

Trapped in resin

Professor Martin Brasier, a palaeobiologist at the university, said: "You can see where the web is attached to the surface.

"If it is confirmed - and we think we have got good evidence for it - then it would be the oldest preserved spider's web and the oldest fossil silk, I think, in the fossil record." ...

via BBC NEWS | UK | England | Sussex | World's 'oldest' spider web found.