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Ancient insects found encased in amber

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The discovery of a trove of insects and arachnids preserved for millions of years in amber raises new questions about how long India was isolated before it joined the Asian continent, researchers said in a new study. The insects -- bees, termites and flies -- had been entombed in the vast Cambay deposit in western India for some 50 million years.

Scientists had long assumed that India was for a time an isolated island-continent, and consequently expected that the insects found in the amber would differ significantly from those elsewhere in Asia.

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