Tokyo Elementary School Sisters Discover Rare Cicada Fossil

Tokyo, April 4 (Jiji Press)--Two elementary school sisters from Tokyo have discovered a rare cicada fossil dating back about 300,000 years by breaking open a rock sold as a souvenir by a museum.

The Middle Pleistocene fossil was found by Maho Shinomiya, 11, a sixth grader, and her sister, Yuno, 8, a third grader, both from the city of Higashikurume. They share a love of fossils.

Maho became interested in fossils after seeing specimens collected by her mother, Chika, and being surprised to learn that living creatures can turn into stone.

In June last year, Chika ordered a rock sold for study purposes and as a souvenir from the Konoha Fossils Museum in the city of Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, known as an area rich in fossils.

When the sisters broke the rock on their balcony, they uncovered what appeared to be an insect head.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]