#amber

#amber

110-Million-Year-Old Lizard Preserved in AmberMost creatures that we find trapped in amber are insects. Rarely do we encounter fossilized remains of vertebrates. Scientists were very fortunate to discover the well-preserved remains of this extinct lizard (classified into a new species: Retinosaurus hkamentiensis). The lizard was so well-preserved that scientists were able to examine its skeleton and its external appearance! Even the double eyelids of its left eye remained. Because of the excellent preservation of the lizard in the amber, scientists were able to create a lifelike rendering of the creature.Upon closer inspection, scientists have found the Retinosaurus to resemble a skink that echoes some features of xantusiids (also called "night lizards") in North America. It might mean that it is a proto-xantusiid.(Images: Joseph Bevitt/Edward Stanley/Andrej Čerňanský et al via Syfy)#Paleontology #Lizard #Retinosaurus #Amber

Pine Cone Sprouting Seeds Found in a 40-Million-Year-Old AmberA pine cone seed sprouting while enclosed within an amber has been found, and it is the first plant fossil to show such germinating behavior. Researcher and international expert George Poinar Jr., professor emeritus in the Department of Integrative Biology of Oregon State University, discovered the said fossil. The specimen became the first fossil evidence of precocious germination or premature germination. As the name suggests, premature germination happens when the seeds germinate while still being in the parent plant, usually inside its fruits.According to Poinar, the pine cone is approximately 40 million years old, and from the Baltic region. It shows many embryonic stems emerging from the pine cone as well as needle clusters at the sprouts’ tips associated with the extinct pine species Pinus cembrifolia.“Crucial to the development of all plants, seed germination typically occurs in the ground after a seed has fallen,” said Poinar. “Seed germination in fruits is fairly common in plants that lack seed dormancy, like tomatoes, peppers and grapefruit, and it happens for a variety of reasons,” he added.What makes this discovery special is the fact that seed germination is rare in gymnosperms such as this pine species. In addition, it was found inside an amber case, being the first of its kind.Image: Steve Lundeberg#fossil #PineCone #seeds #amber

100-Million-Year-Old Tiny Cretapsara Athanata Crab Trapped in Amber is the Oldest Aquatic Animal Preserved in AmberFossils trapped in amber give us a great glimpse of what life was like in the ancient past. Most of the time, what scientists find in the amber are insects. But sometimes, to their surprise, they see aquatic organisms trapped in the fossilized tree resin. Recently, scientists have revealed that they have found the first dinosaur-era crab. Even better, it's fully preserved in amber!The crab in question, Cretapsara athanata, is said to be the oldest modern-looking crab, and they estimate its age to be about 100 million years old. Javier Luque, the lead author of the research, described the crab as "very special in many ways." Despite being modern-looking compared to the other crabs from its era, the mid-Cretaceous amber in which it is preserved is proof that this crustacean belonged to the same time.The question, however, is how did this aquatic animal become trapped in tree amber?More about this over at Harvard University.(All Images: Xing, L. et al., Longyin Amber Museum via Science Advances)#Paleontology #Amber #Fossil

Microscopic Tardigrade Fossil Found in 16-Million-Year-Old AmberTardigrades are microscopic animals that can withstand extreme conditions, including the vacuum of space. But since they are so small, it is rare to find fossilized specimens. Still, scientists know they have been around for at least 500 million years. Now a preserved tardigrade has been found in a clump of amber that fell from a tree as sap 16 million years ago in what is now the Dominican Republic. The piece of amber held quite a few creatures, and it took extensive analysis to find the tardigrade. The extinct tardigrade species has been named Paradoryphoribius chronocaribbeus, part of a completely new genus, yet it resembles present-day tardigrades. Less than a millimeter long, the tardigrade is preserved so well that you can see the tiny claws on the ends of its eight legs -under a microscope. They are the smallest animal known that has legs. Read more about the preserved tardigrade found in Dominican amber at CNN.(Image credit: Holly Sullivan/Proceedings of the Royal Society B) #tardigrade #fossil #amber

Female Spiders’ Maternal Instincts Captured in 99-Million-Year-Old AmberFour adult spiders encased in amber were found in the northern part of Myanmar that are estimated to be around 99 million years old. They belong to the extinct family of lagonomegopids, and show us how spider behavior has changed and how it stays the same. For example, these spiders did not build webs, but they did spin silk. In behavior that doesn't change, these four chunks of amber are the oldest known examples of a maternal instinct in spiders. One shows a spider, frozen in time, clutching her egg sac. The remaining three amber specimens showed already hatched spiderlings near fragments of their mother's legs. Researchers counted a total of 24, 26, and 34 hatched babies in the each. The amber also had pieces of wood wrapped with silk strands, suggesting that these pieces were preserved remnants of a spider nest. Together, the findings indicate that the spider babies stayed nearby and were guarded by their mothers. As their nest flooded with resin, the mother chose to stay and protect her spiderlings, reports New Scientist.Oh great, now I'm going to have a Charlotte's Web moment. Read about the discovery at Smithsonian. (Image credit: Xiangbo Guo)#spider #fossil #amber