Chinese Fossil Find Pushes Amber Record Back 65 Million Years to 385 Million

Q: If not for insects, what ancient threat forced early plants to evolve the complex chemistry for making amber?

The leading suspects are wildfires and parasitic fungi, not insects. The new Devonian amber study says these plants were making chemically complex resin about 385 million years ago, well before major insect grazing became an important pressure. Researchers therefore argue the resin likely evolved as a defense against other threats already common on land. Cihang Luo and colleagues specifically point to wildfires and fungal attack as plausible drivers. That fits the broader fossil record. By the Devonian, early land plants were spreading across continents, atmospheric changes were making fire more feasible, and plant-pathogen interactions were already established. Fossil evidence from ancient plant beds shows fungi were infecting early vascular plants, while charcoal records indicate fire was part of these ecosystems. Resin would have helped seal wounds, protect exposed tissues, and chemically deter or limit microbial invasion. So, if not for insects, the ancient threat that likely pushed early plants toward amber-producing chemistry was a combination of fire damage and fungal parasitism.

3 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Jul 15

Researchers in northwest China identified 241 amber fragments dated to 385 million years ago, making them the oldest known amber and pushing the fossil record back 65 million years.
The grains—just 0.1 to 1.5 millimeters wide—were recovered from 10 kilograms of coal in the Hujiersite Formation and first spotted under ultraviolet light because they fluoresced against the rock.
Optical tests, infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry confirmed the material as true amber with conifer-type resin signatures, not merely resin-like organic matter.
The find suggests non-seed vascular plants were already producing complex terpenoid resin in the Middle Devonian, long before seed plants diversified and 150 million years before the first dinosaurs.
Scientists say the discovery reshapes ideas about early plant defenses and hints that even older, microscopic amber may still be hidden in ancient coals and shales.

Sources

ScienceAlert10h ago

Paleontologists Discover World's Oldest Amber, 385 Million Years Old, in China

Yahoo! Voices10h ago

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Nautilus10h ago

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If not for insects, what ancient threat forced early plants to evolve the complex chemistry for making amber?

World's Oldest Amber: The 385-Million-Year-Old Resin That Redefines Early Plant Evolution

Overview

Scientists have discovered 385-million-year-old amber, the oldest ever found, offering a unique glimpse into Earth's distant past and pushing back the known timeline for amber by millions of years. This ancient resin, published in Science Advances, has a chemical signature similar to that of conifer-type plants. Researchers believe it likely came from early tree-like lycopsids or progymnosperms and evolved as a protective mechanism, possibly against fire or microbes. The discovery not only reveals the early development of plant defenses but also reshapes our understanding of how ancient plants adapted to life on land.

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