GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Amber is the fossilized resin of a plant. Insects and other small organisms that were embedded in the resin until it hardened have been known to survive. Amber is used mainly to study or research more about resin fossils, although it is more frequently used in order to make jewellery and sculpture also.

Detailed explanation-2: -Amber can also preserve plant matter (figure 11), bacteria, fungi, worms, snails, insects, spiders, and (more rarely) small vertebrates. Some pieces of amber contain water droplets and bubbles, products of the chemical breakdown of organic matter.

Detailed explanation-3: -Collectors and scientists have found not just bugs entombed in tree resin, but even animals as large as lizards, frogs and salamanders can be preserved in impressive detail. Skin, scales, fur and feathers are just some of the incredibly detailed features found in amber.

Detailed explanation-4: -Most ambers from the ongoing Cenozoic era, beginning 66 million years ago (MYA), were produced by conifer trees, though some originate from flowering plants of the pea family. Almost all amber from the Mesozoic era, 252-66 MYA, was made by conifers such as cedars, redwoods and ancient ‘southern pines’.

Detailed explanation-5: -All fossils are time capsules. But unlike many other finds, insects encapsulated in amber are often perfectly preserved. “Frequently, their external morphology is as well conserved as if they had been sealed in synthetic resin, ” says LMU zoologist Professor Joachim T. Haug.