Sydney, amber is fossilized tree resin. Unlike traditional fossils found on land or in the sea, amber can preserve ancient life forms in incredible detail. It is often considered the “holy grail” of paleontology worldwide.
Amber acts as a time capsule, capturing small animals, plants and even microorganisms from millions of years ago. These fossils, also known as inclusions, can appear surprisingly fresh, preserved just as they were when they died trapped in the sticky resin of trees.
Australian amber is now helping to understand the biological diversity of ancient Gondwana environments from 42 million years ago and its connections to present-day Australian forests. From him we can learn even more reasons why we must protect today's forests. The unique value of Australian amber
Unlike typical crushed fossil rock forms, paleontologists value amber for its remarkable ability to preserve inclusions in full three dimensions. This means we can study fossil organisms that otherwise would not have been recorded in such detail.
This is especially important considering that around 85% of modern biodiversity comes from arthropods (spiders, flies, beetles, bees and the like). Only 0.3% is represented by “bony” mammals, which are most commonly found as fossils in rocks. Overall, only a small fraction of all life over geological time has been fossilized. This means we are working with a biased fossil record that may not accurately represent past diversity.
Amber provides a unique opportunity to find less common specimens. It helps reveal the diversity of past ecosystems and reduce these biases in our understanding of ancient life.
Most amber discoveries come from the northern hemisphere (the Baltic region, Spain, China, Myanmar). Australia is one of the few places in the southern hemisphere where scientists can also study organisms trapped in amber. The most promising site for finding these preserved organisms is a former coal mining area in Victoria. The amber and fossils from this site are estimated to be between 42 and 40 million years old, dating back to the Eocene epoch.
At the time, Australia and Antarctica were still connected as part of the slowly fragmenting supercontinent called Gondwana. Australia had a hot, humid climate and forests full of insects, arachnids and other creatures.
Living FossilsThe amber we are working with has been studied by researchers since 2014. Findings described in 2020 include biting mosquitoes, baby spiders, and even a pair of mating flies.
Our latest work reveals more details about the species. We have learned not only where these organisms lived in the past, but also the surprising fact that many of them still exist today in Australia's forests, albeit in very small geographical areas.
This means that the creatures of ancient Gondwana have persisted for more than 40 million years. Their survival for so long gives even more reason to protect them in the future. A major development in our research is based on new developments at ANSTO's Australian Synchrotron Research Facility in Melbourne. Improved resolution and the ability to scan smaller samples with X-rays have greatly improved the way we can produce images of organisms trapped in amber. This allows us to create detailed 3D reconstructions and we can identify species more easily.
The synchrotron has also made it possible to finally detect inclusions within large, opaque pieces of amber that were previously difficult to examine with traditional microscopes.
What have we found in Australian amber? Some of the important new finds have been a "non-bite" or "feather" mosquito from the insect subfamily Podonominae. It is the first fossil record of the genus Austrochlus in the southern hemisphere. Although in the past it was widely distributed globally, it is now restricted to Australia.
With synchrotron, we reveal not only the sex and position of the specimen in its family tree, but also the internal structures of what are potentially wing muscles. Even in amber fossils, this is a rarity.
We also found a real biting mosquito that still exists today (Austroconops). It is the first fossil of its kind dating back to the Cenozoic, spanning the last 66 million years. This once widespread mosquito is today found only in Western Australia and, again, restricted only to our continent. A wasp of the family Embolemidae, recognized today worldwide as a parasite of the nymphs of the grasshopper, is another highlight of Australian amber. This group has a fairly sparse fossil record and this is only the second time one has been found in the southern hemisphere.
All of these insect fossils are the first of their kind found in Australia. And we have only scratched the surface: there is still much more to describe.
Surprisingly, these insects are still found in Australian forests today, tracing their lineage back in time to ancient Gondwana. Without realizing it, we exist among living fossils. While we know that these species were widely distributed in the past, today most of them are found only on this continent. Now they face new challenges that threaten their habitats. Threats include climate change, deforestation and urban sprawl.
Protecting these ancient “living fossils” and their environments is essential to the health of our native ecosystems. (The conversation) AMS
Amber acts as a time capsule, capturing small animals, plants and even microorganisms from millions of years ago. These fossils, also known as inclusions, can appear surprisingly fresh, preserved just as they were when they died trapped in the sticky resin of trees.
Australian amber is now helping to understand the biological diversity of ancient Gondwana environments from 42 million years ago and its connections to present-day Australian forests. From him we can learn even more reasons why we must protect today's forests. The unique value of Australian amber
Unlike typical crushed fossil rock forms, paleontologists value amber for its remarkable ability to preserve inclusions in full three dimensions. This means we can study fossil organisms that otherwise would not have been recorded in such detail.
This is especially important considering that around 85% of modern biodiversity comes from arthropods (spiders, flies, beetles, bees and the like). Only 0.3% is represented by “bony” mammals, which are most commonly found as fossils in rocks. Overall, only a small fraction of all life over geological time has been fossilized. This means we are working with a biased fossil record that may not accurately represent past diversity.
Amber provides a unique opportunity to find less common specimens. It helps reveal the diversity of past ecosystems and reduce these biases in our understanding of ancient life.
Most amber discoveries come from the northern hemisphere (the Baltic region, Spain, China, Myanmar). Australia is one of the few places in the southern hemisphere where scientists can also study organisms trapped in amber. The most promising site for finding these preserved organisms is a former coal mining area in Victoria. The amber and fossils from this site are estimated to be between 42 and 40 million years old, dating back to the Eocene epoch.
At the time, Australia and Antarctica were still connected as part of the slowly fragmenting supercontinent called Gondwana. Australia had a hot, humid climate and forests full of insects, arachnids and other creatures.
Living FossilsThe amber we are working with has been studied by researchers since 2014. Findings described in 2020 include biting mosquitoes, baby spiders, and even a pair of mating flies.
Our latest work reveals more details about the species. We have learned not only where these organisms lived in the past, but also the surprising fact that many of them still exist today in Australia's forests, albeit in very small geographical areas.
This means that the creatures of ancient Gondwana have persisted for more than 40 million years. Their survival for so long gives even more reason to protect them in the future. A major development in our research is based on new developments at ANSTO's Australian Synchrotron Research Facility in Melbourne. Improved resolution and the ability to scan smaller samples with X-rays have greatly improved the way we can produce images of organisms trapped in amber. This allows us to create detailed 3D reconstructions and we can identify species more easily.
The synchrotron has also made it possible to finally detect inclusions within large, opaque pieces of amber that were previously difficult to examine with traditional microscopes.
What have we found in Australian amber? Some of the important new finds have been a "non-bite" or "feather" mosquito from the insect subfamily Podonominae. It is the first fossil record of the genus Austrochlus in the southern hemisphere. Although in the past it was widely distributed globally, it is now restricted to Australia.
With synchrotron, we reveal not only the sex and position of the specimen in its family tree, but also the internal structures of what are potentially wing muscles. Even in amber fossils, this is a rarity.
We also found a real biting mosquito that still exists today (Austroconops). It is the first fossil of its kind dating back to the Cenozoic, spanning the last 66 million years. This once widespread mosquito is today found only in Western Australia and, again, restricted only to our continent. A wasp of the family Embolemidae, recognized today worldwide as a parasite of the nymphs of the grasshopper, is another highlight of Australian amber. This group has a fairly sparse fossil record and this is only the second time one has been found in the southern hemisphere.
All of these insect fossils are the first of their kind found in Australia. And we have only scratched the surface: there is still much more to describe.
Surprisingly, these insects are still found in Australian forests today, tracing their lineage back in time to ancient Gondwana. Without realizing it, we exist among living fossils. While we know that these species were widely distributed in the past, today most of them are found only on this continent. Now they face new challenges that threaten their habitats. Threats include climate change, deforestation and urban sprawl.
Protecting these ancient “living fossils” and their environments is essential to the health of our native ecosystems. (The conversation) AMS
