100-million-year-old fossilized spider attack found

Like an old photograph, a 100-million-year-old fossil has captured something extraordinary from time: A battle involving a spider attacking its prey.

The fossil was found by experts from Oregon State University, CBS Seattle reported.

"The extraordinarily rare fossils are in a piece of amber that preserved this event in remarkable detail an action that took place in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar in the Early Cretaceous between 97-110 million years ago, almost certainly with dinosaurs wandering nearby," the university's website announced through a press release.

According to George Poinar, Jr., OSU zoology professor emeritus, the spider had the wasp under its grasp and was about to make it food.

However, Poinar said: "The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them."

According to the press statement, the tree resin is known for being able to "flow over insects" and "preserving them in near perfection before it later turns into a semi-precious stone." The types of spider and wasp captured in the fossil are now regarded as extinct.