24 million years ago, inside the sticky resin, air bubbles appeared. It looks like those air bubbles contained organic material in them. The bubbles appear to be polar, with a dark side and a light side. Quite an affect. Cool piece.
If this doesn't catch your eye, nothing will. Dominican amber: this is an unbelievable skull of a lizard. So easy to see, so detailed, you can even see where the head separated from the body. On the lower part of the skull you can still see the imprint of skin from this lizard. My guess is that this is a gecko - but I am not sure about this. The skull is beautiful, I have never seen anything like this ever. This is a specimen of specimens!
The very finest of Amphipods that I have ever seen. Comes from the mines near Simojovel in Chiapas, Mexico. The details on this specimen are fantastic. the amber is very clear, great color and shows everything. It is one of those pieces that is a joy to behold. Now, I am no expert in Talitridae:Amphipodae, but I do wonder if this is a new undiscovered species of Amphipod.
A very good friend of mine, John Fudala just had
another insect named after him: Trichomyia fudalai.
Here is a link to the paper on the Psychodidae
that was named after John. John and I often
travel to the Dominican Republic (and other places)
in search of fossils.
Now this is cool: Scientists have exhumed the body of Gregory Mendell and are using it for DNA studies. Also DNA sequencing!
Jorge Caridad
Above: Picture of Doug Lundberg and Jorge Caridad in a fossil shop, Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Caridad is the owner of the Amber World Museum in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Picture above: Wolfgang Weitschat, Kazimieras Mizgiris and Doug Lundberg
Join the AMBER list:There now is a discussion group devoted to the study of amber. The intent of this discussion is public discourse on amber formation, types, general questions, almost anything that relates to amber. Also encouraged on this discussion group will be questions on jewelry making, and web sites about amber. The discussion group is not moderated. This means that all postings will go through without moderation (no one will censor them.) This is an international group, covering just about any country you can imagine (some of which I have never heard of!) Most people just watch and listen to the discussions that go on. You are encouraged to participate, but certainly do not need to. Click here Join the AMBER list This discussion group was formed and is maintained by Doug Lundberg. His e-mail address is lundberg@ambericawest.com. All questions about the discussion group should be directed to him. Short article in the International Amber Association's magazine "Bursztynisko, the AMBER MAGAZINE" |
Scientific American, February 2020, had a picture showing the land continents with major ‘discoveries’ (page 20). One arrow pointed to Brazil and under that, it said:
“Despite the long dry spells in Brazil’s Caatinga region, scientists found the tree Hymenaea cangaceira drizzles copious nectar from flowers to attract pollinating bats: a full-sized tree can release 240 gallons of the stuff, with 38 distinct scent compounds, over a single dry season.”
Here is the reason for this inclusion on this amber page. Hymenaea is the tree in New Zealand that produces copious amounts of resin that is called ‘kauri gum’. Not sure about this relationship, but if I am a betting person (I am), I would put money that there is a direct relationship between the flowers and resin production.
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Article from Science News about "Spider moms have been caring for their young for a long time."
(68 KG)
By the way, Amberica West and Amber Safari just sold this to the Museum (68 Kg):
A View from Amberica West
You can see Pikes Peak in the background and the
United States Air Force Academy somewhere near the middle.
