Bizarre insect from the age of dinosaurs had a mouth twice its body…

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorResearchers from Tel Aviv University and a geology institute in Nanjing described an insect from ninety-nine million years ago with a mouth twice its body length.

2. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWith us is Soren Vukovic, who runs naming at a fossil institute.

3. SA

   Soren Abelard VukovicThanks for having me. For the record, the mouth is not twice the body. It is one point nine nine times.

4. SA

   Soren Abelard VukovicThe study says about twice, and I stand by about.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe body is eight point seven millimetres. Let's skip the decimals. The team looked at thirteen amber fossils from Myanmar.

6. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWhat did they name this thing?

7. SA

   Soren Abelard VukovicThe species is Cretodorus noonoo, a name reached through rigorous process. I have the stamp right here. It was a crayon.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNoo-Noo. Like the vacuum cleaner from Teletubbies.

9. SA

   Soren Abelard VukovicThe nickname, and only the nickname, because the mouthpart resembles a long flexible hose.

10. SA

    Soren Abelard VukovicFor the record, it resembles it for about ninety seconds of a children's program.

11. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorLatin was available. You went to Tel Aviv and Nanjing, studied the amber, published in the journal Insects, and then picked the vacuum.

12. SA

    Soren Abelard VukovicThe folds let it bend without collapsing, like a bendy straw. Scientifically, that is a vacuum.

13. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt was probably for sap in bark cracks, not nectar. No pollen on the bodies. So no, it wasn't a vacuum.

14. SA

    Soren Abelard VukovicSap. Right. For the record, I called it a vacuum in a meeting, and the room just nodded.

15. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThey nodded. Soren Vukovic, thank you. The rest of the block is waiting on Dale for a final grade, and Brock has your forecast.

16. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorTwo fun-size bars, and one of them is already gone. Brock, is there a drizzle coming?