Not elder law: eBay insect fossil is new species

A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on theweb auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to apreviously unknown species of aphid.

Dr Richard Harrington, vice-president of the UK’s RoyalEntomological Society, bought the fossil from an individual inLithuania.

He then sent it off to an aphid expert in Denmark, who confirmed the insect was a new species, now extinct.

The bug has been named Mindarus harringtoni after the scientist.

Source:  BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7572052.stm