Amber is usually associated with dinosaurs, prehistoric insects and forests that flourished long after life had become well established on land. The oldest confirmed pieces of fossilised tree resin, until now, came from rocks dating to roughly 320 million years ago. That picture has changed with a discovery from north-west China.
Scientists have identified tiny fragments of amber preserved in rocks around 385 million years old, pushing the confirmed fossil record of amber back by about 65 million years. According to the new study published in Science Advances, titled “ The earliest amber from the Middle Devonian of China ”, it does more than add another ancient specimen to museum collections. It suggests that some of Earth's earliest vascular plants had already developed sophisticated resin-producing systems far earlier than previously confirmed, offering a different perspective on how plants adapted to life on land. The amber represents the oldest chemically verified example ever discovered.
