Amber found at the Font-de-Benon quarry at Archingeay-Les Nouillers in Charente-Maritime, southwest France has been revealed to contain the oldest 3D hair specimens.
While older 2D fossilised specimens have been found, the 100million year old amber contains 3D hairs from two mammals.
The hairs, found alongside a fly pupa in amber are remarkably similar to hair found on modern mammals, which indicates that the shape and structure of mammal hair has remained unchanged over a vast period of time.
The identity of the animal that shed the hair is not known but four teeth of a primitive marsupial called Arcantiodelphys have been found in the quarry, above the layer in which the amber was found.
