112-Million-Year-Old Amber Samples Preserve A Snapshot Of An Ancient Forest

112-Million-Year-Old Amber Samples Preserve A Snapshot Of An Ancient Forest

112-Million-Year-Old Amber Samples Preserve A Snapshot Of An Ancient Forest A beetle in amber sample – Credit: Senior Researcher Enrique Peñalver In the blockbuster 1993 film  Jurassic Park,  Steven Spielberg’s screenwriters tell the story of scientists who recover dinosaur DNA from a mosquito entombed in amber and use it to clone the animals back into existence. Today, a recent paleontological discovery comes to the very doorstep of that fictional tale, bringing much of the excitement, short of the impossibilities. A fly trapped in a studied amber sample. Mónica Solórzano-Kraemer Two amber samples: one from below ground and one from the limbs of an ancient tree, show incredible 3D snapshots of life from 112 million years ago. 6 orders of arthropods are seen inside, including beetles, flies, and spiders encased within. This entomological time capsule is only possible because of amber, a tree resin that when exposed to millions of years will harden into a crystalline structure. Sold as jewelr…