/r/trappedinamber
Photos of prehistoric plants and/or animals that have been forever preserved in amber.
Sidebar image credit: Zeev Altboum
This subreddit is for photos of plants/animals/insects that have been forever preserved in amber.
Posts not pertaining to the description of this subreddit will be removed
Only links to photos, as well as photo uploads can be submitted for a post
Articles can be linked, however only do so in the comments section
Formatting
We highly encourage you to place the age of the specimen in the title as such [50 M.Y.O]. This is not required, but we wish to provide an educational experience for everyone.
You are required to provide credit for the picture (ie. photographer's name) in the comments. If source is unknown, please state so, and post a link to where you found the image.
We have Automod set up to only allow pictures uploaded from certain domains. It includes the main ones: Imgur, Flickr, RedditUploads, Tinypic, as well as other less used domains. Please Rehost the image to one of the main ones to avoid post removal, in case your image is not hosted on one of the Domains we allow.
Submission pictures must be no smaller than 500x500.
Add post flair to your post to distinguish what type of submission it is
What is Amber?
Contrary to popular belief, Amber comes not from tree sap, but fossilized tree resin. Sometimes insects, plants, or even parts of dinosaurs became stuck in this resin; these are called inclusions. Over millions of years and in ideal conditions, this resin was fossilized and became Amber.
Amber is used in jewelry, perfumes, and even folk medicine.
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/r/trappedinamber
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2 million year old mantis trapped in amber.
12:55 UTC
Gas-Exuding Scarab in Myanmar Amber
Coleoptera with exuded gas bubbles; these are likely methane, and could be the by-product of methanogenic bacteria inside a xylophagous (wood-eating) species. Some adult members of the Cetoniinae subfamily (family: Scarabaeidae) are xylophagous and known to produce methane; while this is known from Recent species, it's possible such characteristics could be found in extinct members of the Scarabaeidae or Scarabaeoidea (superfamily).
Contained within a specimen of Myanmar amber, roughly 99.34-98.10 Ma in age; interestingly, recent research has suggested amber from the Tanai deposits is several Ma older than the above range.
Image captured with HAYEAR HY-1070 microscope. Subject is roughly 6mm in length.
05:56 UTC
Multiple Hymenoptera in Sumatra Blue Amber
A 4.3g specimen of blue amber from the province of West Sumatra, near the city of Payakumbuh. I had manually ground and polished the raw specimen with the use of diamond needle files, 240-3,000 grit sandpaper, and ZAM polishing compound on a Selvyt cloth. Only after polishing the specimen did I notice inclusions, and subsequently ground 4 flat faces, suitable for photography of the inclusions. I used a Canon EOS 500D, Canon 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro, and combined +2 and +4 circular Hoya magnifying filter lenses. Illuminated with the use of a 140 lumen LED penlight.
This specimen was part of a 1 kilogram lot, which originated from coal layers belonging to the Sinamar Fm., and is approximately 30 Ma in age. The nearby Talang Akar Fm. (Jambi Sub-basin) overlaps in age and also produces amber, yet my supplier has assured me that the source mine is within the West Sumatra province.
The specimen contains 4 insects, two of which have been positively identified as Pseudomyrmex sp. by Brian Christopher, owner of Amber U.S.A.; one of two winged individuals is pictured, but both are pending a positive ID. Both Pseudomyrmex are roughly 3-4mm in length, and the two winged individuals are identical in morphology and size, roughly 2mm long (one winged subject is positioned <1mm below the surface along one of the 90˚ edges: immersing the amber in cedar oil or glycerin, or embedding the specimen in epoxy resin are now the only ways to obtain a flat field to photograph it).
05:40 UTC
Sumatra Blue Amber
One of my more recent acquisitions, here are some small (4-8g) pieces of blue amber from West Sumatra, Indonesia. From the Sinamar Formation near the Bukit Barisan range, about 30 MA in age; found in coal seams at a depth of approx. 32-39 m.
These little pieces are transparent like glass, and almost look like Dominican material at first glance! Photo was taken dry and illuminated with a Quantum 140 lumen penlight. The upper right piece is a piece I'm pre-forming (diamond needle files), and it is a surprisingly hard piece: it's comparable to Burmite in hardness!
I'm amazed at how many amber occurrences there are in the world; I have material from the several Baltic nations, Ukraine, Dominican Republic, Sumatra, and Myanmar. There are even a few regions I have material from that are bit more unusual: Blakeburn area near Coalmont, BC, Neuse River in North Carolina, Hell Creek Formation in northeast Wyoming, and from the Crossman Clay Pit in New Jersey.
My most recent inclusion I've uncovered while working on my raw material, is a 6 mm Trichoptera (?Polycentropodidae) in a triangular 34.8 gram "run" of Rovno amber; it is a very odd specimen, as it is completely undamaged and intact, except for the fact that its antennae are no more than 1 mm long stumps. I have several other pics of my amber on my Instagram feed if anyone is interested.
20:42 UTC