Oldest spider silk found
The oldest known strand of spider silk has been found, preserved in Lebanese amber.

It dates from the Early Cretaceous Period, more than 120 million years ago.

This means it comes from about 80-90 million years further back in time than the previous oldest reported spider thread, found in Baltic amber.

The specimen is described in the journal Nature by Swiss researcher Dr Samuel Zschokke, from the University of Basel.

Small globules of glue that would have stuck down any insect unlucky to get caught up in the silk are still clearly visible on the thread.

  thanks to plep