File #2718: "TftT Amber Brochure.pdf"
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Baltic Amber
Scan the QR code to learn
more or visit “Tales from
the Table” at
https://msstateexhibits.libraryhost.com/exhibits/show/tftt
TALES
FROM THE TABLE!
SPOTLIGHT SPECIMEN
AMBER
The Baltic region of Europe has the
largest deposit of amber in the world.
This amber first formed in the Eocene
Epoch, 56-34 million years ago, and
scientists believe it came from a conifer
forest. Baltic amber is famous for
preserving ancient insects. Many
species of ants, beetles, wasps, and
spiders have been found in Baltic
amber.
What is amber?
In a sticky situation...
An ant in Baltic Amber
In order for something to get preserved in
amber, it must first get stuck in sticky tree
resin. Often, small creatures or plants will get
trapped in the resin, and when it hardens, they
harden with it. Unlike regular fossils, which
usually only preserve the hard parts of an
animal’s body, like bones, amber can preserve
soft things like feathers, insect wings, and
scales. Fossils in amber give us some of our
clearest pictures into life from the past.
By John Alan Elson - http://www.3dham.com/miscpics/, CC
BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=15970758
Amber is fossilized tree resin
Resin is a thick, sticky substance that
plants produce when they’re damaged.
The resin acts like a bandage.
Amber takes about 40,000 years to
form
Amber has been used in jewelry and
perfume since ancient times
Amber is famous for its ability to
preserve the soft parts of plants and
animals, which usually don’t fossilize
The oldest insect found in amber is
from the late Triassic, 230 million years
ago
Take a look at some
amazing amber finds
By Anders L. Damgaard - www.amber-inclusions.dk - Baltic-amber-beetle - This file was derived from: Baltic amber inclusions - Ant
(Hymenoptera, Formicidae)8.JPGTransferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Common Good using CommonsHelper.(Original text: Work
of Baltic-amber-beetle), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16792582
A snail shell and insects
A frog
By Xing, L., Stanley, E.L., Bai, M. et al - Xing, L., Stanley, E.L., Bai, M. et al. The earliest
direct evidence of frogs in wet tropical forests from Cretaceous Burmese amber. Sci
Rep 8, 8770 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26848-w, CC BY 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93407545
By RealGatba - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120195930
Scan the QR code to learn
more or visit “Tales from
the Table” at
https://msstateexhibits.libraryhost.com/exhibits/show/tftt
TALES
FROM THE TABLE!
SPOTLIGHT SPECIMEN
AMBER
The Baltic region of Europe has the
largest deposit of amber in the world.
This amber first formed in the Eocene
Epoch, 56-34 million years ago, and
scientists believe it came from a conifer
forest. Baltic amber is famous for
preserving ancient insects. Many
species of ants, beetles, wasps, and
spiders have been found in Baltic
amber.
What is amber?
In a sticky situation...
An ant in Baltic Amber
In order for something to get preserved in
amber, it must first get stuck in sticky tree
resin. Often, small creatures or plants will get
trapped in the resin, and when it hardens, they
harden with it. Unlike regular fossils, which
usually only preserve the hard parts of an
animal’s body, like bones, amber can preserve
soft things like feathers, insect wings, and
scales. Fossils in amber give us some of our
clearest pictures into life from the past.
By John Alan Elson - http://www.3dham.com/miscpics/, CC
BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=15970758
Amber is fossilized tree resin
Resin is a thick, sticky substance that
plants produce when they’re damaged.
The resin acts like a bandage.
Amber takes about 40,000 years to
form
Amber has been used in jewelry and
perfume since ancient times
Amber is famous for its ability to
preserve the soft parts of plants and
animals, which usually don’t fossilize
The oldest insect found in amber is
from the late Triassic, 230 million years
ago
Take a look at some
amazing amber finds
By Anders L. Damgaard - www.amber-inclusions.dk - Baltic-amber-beetle - This file was derived from: Baltic amber inclusions - Ant
(Hymenoptera, Formicidae)8.JPGTransferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Common Good using CommonsHelper.(Original text: Work
of Baltic-amber-beetle), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16792582
A snail shell and insects
A frog
By Xing, L., Stanley, E.L., Bai, M. et al - Xing, L., Stanley, E.L., Bai, M. et al. The earliest
direct evidence of frogs in wet tropical forests from Cretaceous Burmese amber. Sci
Rep 8, 8770 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26848-w, CC BY 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93407545
By RealGatba - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120195930