Discovery of Japanese Fossil Bee Bridges Two-Million-Year Gap in Honeybee Evolution
Paleontologists have discovered a new fossil honeybee species, Apis aibai, in Japan, which fills a significant gap in the evolutionary history of the genus Apis. This discovery is notable because fossil honeybees are rare, with most known specimens dating back to the Oligocene and Miocene periods in Europe and China. The newly found fossil, dating from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, is the youngest known extinct honeybee and the oldest confirmed fossil of the subgenus Apis, which includes the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera). The fossil was found in the Teragi Group in Japan's Hyogo prefecture and shows a strong resemblance to the modern Apis nigrocincta, suggesting a wider historical distribution of this group. 
