Articles | Volume 21, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-21-213-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-21-213-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Marine microorganisms as amber inclusions: insights from coastal forests of New Caledonia
Alexander R. Schmidt
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Dennis Grabow
Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Christina Beimforde
Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Vincent Perrichot
Univ. Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes – UMR 6118, Rennes,
France
Jouko Rikkinen
Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki,
Helsinki, Finland
Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of
Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Simona Saint Martin
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Origines et
Evolution, UMR 7207 CR2P (MNHN CNRS-SU), Paris, France
Volker Thiel
Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Leyla J. Seyfullah
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Related authors
Florian Witzmann, Carolin Haug, Christian Klug, Johannes Müller, Torsten M. Scheyer, and Alexander R. Schmidt
Foss. Rec., 24, 443–444, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-443-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-443-2021, 2021
Leyla J. Seyfullah, Emily A. Roberts, Phillip E. Jardine, and Alexander R. Schmidt
Foss. Rec., 24, 321–337, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-321-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-321-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Currently, little is known about the natural chemical variability of resins and ambers. To understand how much resin variability occurs naturally we ran experiments on plants and then investigated the resultant resins with FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. We detected that resin viscosity and genetic variation are important factors in determining the amount of variation in resin chemistry. This natural variability needs to be taken into account when testing resin and amber chemistries in the future.
Florian Witzmann, Carolin Haug, Christian Klug, Johannes Müller, Torsten M. Scheyer, and Alexander R. Schmidt
Foss. Rec., 24, 443–444, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-443-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-443-2021, 2021
Valentine Bouju, Simon Rosse-Guillevic, Marion Griffon, Błażej Bojarski, Jacek Szwedo, and Vincent Perrichot
Foss. Rec., 24, 339–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-339-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-339-2021, 2021
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An extinct species of fly is described from 16–23-million-year-old amber of Ethiopia. It is the first fossil of the fly family Mycetophilidae discovered from Africa. This discovery informs the evolutionary history of Afrotropical fungus gnats.
Leyla J. Seyfullah, Emily A. Roberts, Phillip E. Jardine, and Alexander R. Schmidt
Foss. Rec., 24, 321–337, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-321-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-321-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Currently, little is known about the natural chemical variability of resins and ambers. To understand how much resin variability occurs naturally we ran experiments on plants and then investigated the resultant resins with FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. We detected that resin viscosity and genetic variation are important factors in determining the amount of variation in resin chemistry. This natural variability needs to be taken into account when testing resin and amber chemistries in the future.
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Short summary
Amber is fossilized resin and so has a terrestrial source; however, very rarely have marine microorganisms been reported, and only in a few amber pieces. We aim to understand how this rare phenomenon could be possible. Several different mechanisms were proposed, and we then tested the wind-blown idea via our experiments on resin-rich forests on the coast of New Caledonia. These forests encompass the best model for the Cretaceous ambers that contain these marine microorganisms.
Amber is fossilized resin and so has a terrestrial source; however, very rarely have marine...