25-
to 20-Million-Year-Old Amber Fossils |
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A tiny
parasitic wasp in Baltic amber, approximately 40 to 35
million years old. The wings, antennae, complex eyes
and joints are completely preserved. |
Two
beetle species in Dominican amber, approximately 25 to
20 million years old. |
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A
25- to 20-million-year-old fossil insect. Insects sometimes
managed to escape being entrapped in resin by leaving
their body parts such as legs or wings. |
Sciarid
flies are common today and were common in the tropical
amber forests millions of years ago. This 25- to 20-million-year
old inclusion shows some good preservation of structural
detail such as legs, wings and compound eyes. |
Fossil
bark louse in Dominican amber, approximately 25 million
years old. It is perfectly preserved so that even its
antennal hairs and its wing pigmentation were kept. |
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Larva
of hoverfly (syrphid) in Baltic amber, approximately
40 to 30 million years old. |
A very
small fossil mite in Baltic amber, 50 to 35 million years
old. |
Neotropical
ant in Dominican amber, approximately 25 to 20 million
years old. Some parts of this worker ant’s legs
are missing, but an eye and its body hairs are still
present. |
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A 40-million-year-old
Baltic amber containing a tiny fly.
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A tiny
grasshopper within 35- to 30-million-year-old Baltic
amber. By the physical and chemical processes involved
in the resin’s transformation into amber, the grasshopper
assumes both the golden color and the consistency of
the material in which it is embedded. |
A fossil
fly in a 50- to 35-million-year-old Baltic amber. The
external surface details of its body are very well defined. |
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| The inclusion in an approximately
25-million-year-old Dominican amber looks like a winged
ant, but is actually a parasitic wasp. |
A winged termite in Baltic
amber. Since termites can consume and utilize the cellulose
in wood as a nutrient, they are common inhabitants of the
forests such as this Baltic amber forest 45 to 30 million
years ago. |
A long-legged
fly in a 50- to 35-million-year-old Baltic amber. |
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A
small fossil beetle dating back 25 to 20 million years.
The external bodily details are particularly well preserved. |
A 25-million-year-old
fungus gnat. This specimen is very well preserved with
its eyes and other structural details. |
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A fossil lizard,
50 to 35 million years old. |
A wind scorpion in a 25-
to 20-million-year-old Dominican amber. |
A fossil tropical millipede could not free itself, even
though it had many legs. This Dominican amber is approximately
25 million years old.
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