Oldest Amber Discovered in China, Dating Back 385 Million Years

A team of paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered the oldest known amber fragments in a coal deposit in northwestern China, dating back 385 million years to the Middle Devonian period—150 million years before the first dinosaurs Source: elcaribedr.

What was found

Researchers analyzed 10 kilograms of coal from the Hujiersite Formation and extracted 241 particles of fossilized resin, each between 0.1 and 1.5 millimeters Source: infobae. The fragments were invisible to the naked eye but fluoresced under ultraviolet light. Chemical tests including infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry confirmed the material as terpenoid resin, similar to that produced by conifers Source: elcaribedr.

Significance

This find pushes back the confirmed amber record by 65 million years, surpassing the previous oldest known amber from the Late Carboniferous associated with seed plants Source: infobae. Because no seed plants existed in the Middle Devonian, the discovery shows that early vascular plants without seeds were already capable of producing complex resin Source: elcaribedr.

Lead researcher Cihang Luo described the team's initial reaction as "enthusiasm, followed immediately by caution" Source: elcaribedr. The resin likely served as a defense against fire, fungi, and physical damage in a time before insects became major plant consumers Source: infobae.