China Researchers Uncover 385-Million-Year-Old Amber, Beating Previous Record by 65 Million Years
Updated
Updated · Sci.News · Jul 17
China Researchers Uncover 385-Million-Year-Old Amber, Beating Previous Record by 65 Million Years
3 articles · Updated · Sci.News · Jul 17
Summary
Researchers extracted 241 amber fragments from coal in Xinjiang’s Hujiersite Formation, dating the chemically verified find to about 385 million years ago—the earliest confirmed amber yet reported.
About 10 kg of coal yielded the pieces after ultraviolet screening and microscope hand-picking; most measured just 0.1 to 0.5 mm and fluoresced bright blue under UV light.
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry showed the resin resembles conifer-type chemistry, even though seed plants had not yet evolved when it formed.
That points to non-seed plants—likely progymnosperms or tree-like lycopsids—as the source, suggesting complex terpenoid resin production arose well before seed plants.
The discovery pushes the amber record back roughly 65 million years from the previous oldest confirmed find and may reshape views of how early plants used resin to seal wounds and resist fungi or wildfire damage.
Could this 385-million-year-old amber contain microscopic fossils that rewrite the history of life on land?
Did plants evolve chemical weapons 65 million years earlier than we thought, and why did they need them?
Did the first forests' ability to make resin trigger major changes in Earth's ancient climate?
Groundbreaking 385-Million-Year-Old Amber Find from China Redefines Early Plant Adaptation
Overview
Researchers, including Cihang Luo and colleagues, have identified Hujiersite amber as the earliest confirmed amber record, dating back to the Middle Devonian period about 385 million years ago. This amber was found within a coal layer whose age was precisely determined, not by directly dating the amber, but by analyzing the surrounding geological context. The fragments are extremely tiny, requiring meticulous study. This discovery provides unprecedented insights into Earth's ancient past and the evolution of plant life, showing how early plants developed the ability to produce resin much earlier than previously thought.