Chinese scientists have uncovered the world’s oldest verified amber in the northwestern Xinjiang region, revealing that ancient plants were producing protective resin 385 million years ago, long before most animal groups had emerged to damage them.
The amber – discovered in coal seams in West Junggar, part of an ancient zone where tectonic plates collided, grew and merged – pushes back the record by roughly 65 million years and challenges some long-held assumptions about the origins of plant resins.
Lovely that this was found by scientists to study. In a similar way to Opals in Australia, sometimes rare old specemins of amber end up in Jewllerry before being able to be studied for their larger wealth of information.
I was so confused by color of the first picture. Turns out the caption was hidden behind a click on the 🛈 on the bottom-right:
> Ultraviolet light revealed a strong blue fluorescence in parts of the coal seam studied by the Chinese palaeontologists, suggesting it may contain amber. Photo: Handout
[OP] scmp_news | 15 hours ago
Chinese scientists have uncovered the world’s oldest verified amber in the northwestern Xinjiang region, revealing that ancient plants were producing protective resin 385 million years ago, long before most animal groups had emerged to damage them.
The amber – discovered in coal seams in West Junggar, part of an ancient zone where tectonic plates collided, grew and merged – pushes back the record by roughly 65 million years and challenges some long-held assumptions about the origins of plant resins.
Read more: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3361968/china-team-unearths-worlds-oldest-amber-hidden-ancient-xinjiang-coal-seam?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social
SoberBobMonthly | 12 hours ago
Lovely that this was found by scientists to study. In a similar way to Opals in Australia, sometimes rare old specemins of amber end up in Jewllerry before being able to be studied for their larger wealth of information.
explosivelydehiscent | 8 hours ago
Sometimes though...Amber pays the rent
AlwaysUpvotesScience | 8 hours ago
Amber could not be reached for comment.
gloerkh | 6 hours ago
Amber is the color of your energy, whoa-OH….
vanderZwan | 5 hours ago
I was so confused by color of the first picture. Turns out the caption was hidden behind a click on the 🛈 on the bottom-right:
> Ultraviolet light revealed a strong blue fluorescence in parts of the coal seam studied by the Chinese palaeontologists, suggesting it may contain amber. Photo: Handout
sugarfreeeyecandy | 3 hours ago
How can a reader opt out of data collection on that site? Maybe it's there but hard to find.
Sad_Dependent_6345 | 11 hours ago
give me some pls
misfitofscience76 | 6 hours ago
Put it back!
You don’t know the power you’re dealing with!
Far_Out_6and_2 | 14 hours ago
Whatever