Caribbean amber

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Amber block found in the Caribbean area Caribbean Amber.jpg
Amber block found in the Caribbean area

Caribbean amber is amber found in the Caribbean area (Dominican Republic). It is believed that resin from the extinct tree Hymenaea protera is the source of Caribbean amber and most amber found in the tropics.

Contents

Caribbean amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being predominantly transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil inclusions. This has enabled the detailed reconstruction of the ecosystem of a long-vanished tropical forest. [1]

Age

A study in the early 1990s showed that Dominican amber could be up to 40 million years old. [2] However, according to Poinar, [3] Dominican amber dates from the Oligocene to the Miocene, which makes it about 25 million years old. The oldest and hardest of this amber comes from the mountain region north of Santiago. The La Cumbre, La Toca, Palo Quemado, La Bucara, and Los Cacaos mining sites in the Cordillera Septentrional are not far from Santiago. [4] Amber has also been found in the south-eastern Bayaguana-Sabana de la Mar area. [5]

Colombian amber is much younger than Dominican amber and is therefore considered copal by many. [6] Colombian copal is the subfossil resins of leguminous trees of the genus Hymenaea sp. [7] Interestingly, the spectra of the copals from East Africa and Colombia are almost entirely superimposable and are very similar to the spectra of Baltic amber from North Germany, with the bands characteristic of labdane compounds observed in each. [8] Currently, it is used in professional jewelry and often sold as "green Caribbean amber".[ citation needed ]

Amber from the Caribbean

Dominican Blue Amber Ambre bleu dominicain 21207.jpg
Dominican Blue Amber
Dominican Green Amber, natural without enhancement Verde dominicana1.jpg
Dominican Green Amber, natural without enhancement

Although there is also copal found in some parts of the Dominican Republic, (Cotui area), most of the Dominican retinite is the older Dominican Amber. The Dominican Republic is the only island in the Caribbean where amber has been discovered and is mined. Dominican amber is found in a range of colors, among them fluorescent green and blue. [9] Dominican amber was formerly thought to be up to 40 million years old, [10] [11] however studies have narrowed the age down to approximately 16 million years old, dating to the Miocene Burdigalian. [12]

Colors

Caribbean amber can be found in many colors besides the obvious amber. Yellow and honey colored are fairly common. There is also red and green in smaller quantities and the rare blue amber (which is fluorescent). [13] [14]

Blue amber is reportedly found mostly in the Palo Quemado mine, the Pescado Bobo mine south of La Cumbre, and the southern part of the Dominican Republic, such as in the mines around the town of El Valle. The amber found in the south is probably younger than the amber found in the north.

The Museo del Ambar Dominicano in Puerto Plata, as well as the Amber World Museum in Santo Domingo, have collections of amber specimens. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Amber Fossilized tree resin

Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects. Amber is used in jewelry. It has also been used as a healing agent in folk medicine.

Copal

Copal is a name given to tree resin, particularly the aromatic resins from the copal tree Protium copal (Burseraceae) used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and for other purposes. More generally, the term copal describes resinous substances in an intermediate stage of polymerization and hardening between "gummier" resins and amber.

George O. Poinar Jr. is an American entomologist and writer. He is known for popularizing the idea of extracting DNA from insects fossilized in amber, an idea which received widespread attention when adapted by Michael Crichton for the book and movie Jurassic Park.

Blue amber A rare variety of amber resin with a blue color

Blue amber is a rare variety of amber resin that exhibits a blue coloration. Blue amber has been found only in the Dominican Republic—especially in the amber mines around the city of Santiago and, less commonly, in the eastern half of the country. In the modern age, it was discovered at about the same time as Dominican amber.

Dominican amber

Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree Hymenaea protera.

<i>Hymenaea</i>

Hymenaea L. is a genus in the flowering plant family Fabaceae. Of fourteen living species in the genus, all but one are native to the tropics of the Americas, with one additional species on the east coast of Africa. Some authors place the African species in a separate monotypic genus, Trachylobium. In the Neotropics, Hymenaea is distributed through the Caribbean islands, and from southern Mexico to Brazil. Linnaeus named the genus in 1753 in Species Plantarum for Hymenaios, the Greek god of marriage ceremonies. The name is a reference to the paired leaflets.

<i>Triatoma dominicana</i>

Triatoma dominicana is an extinct species of assassin bug in the subfamily Triatominae, the kissing bugs known from early Miocene Burdigalian stage Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola.

Voltinia dramba is a fossil metalmark butterfly, found in pieces of amber in the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola in 2004. The butterfly, belonging to the extant genus Voltinia, is the first species to be taxonomically described from amber and the first true fossil of an adult riodinid. Five specimens, all females, were found in pieces of amber from the resin of the extinct leguminous tree Hymenaea protera. Also, the genus Voltinia contains nine heterogeneous species that range from Mexico to Brazil. The fossil appeared to be 15-25 million years old and it's a holotype female fossil. However, the fossil's origin may be unknown, it is ingrained in highly polymerized Dominican amber.

Syndesus ambericus is an extinct species of stag beetles in the subfamily Syndesinae known from a single possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. S. ambericus is the first species of stag beetle to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of four species from amber, and the only stag beetle species known from the Caribbean.

Anthophorula (Anthophorula) persephone is an extinct species of bee in the subfamily Apinae known from a pair of possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. persephone is the first species of the bee tribe Exomalopsini to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is the only species of Anthophorula found in the West Indies.

Hymenaea allendis is an extinct legume species in the family Fabaceae described from a single isolated fossil flower in amber. The species is known from a Late Oligocene to Early Miocene location in southern Mexico. Unlike the coeval extinct species Hymenaea mexicana and Hymenaea protera which are placed closer to the living species Hymenaea verrucosum of Africa, H. allendis is closer in relation to the neotropical species of Hymenaea.

Acanthognathus poinari is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a single possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. A. poinari is the first species of the ant genus Acanthognathus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of several species of Acanthognathus found in the Greater Antillies.

La Toca Formation

The La Toca Formation is a geologic formation in the northern and eastern part of the Dominican Republic. The formation, predominantly an alternating sequence of marls and turbiditic sandstones, breccias and conglomerates, is renowned for the preservation of insects and other arthropods in amber, known as Dominican amber. The formation is dated to the Burdigalian to Langhian stages of the Miocene period.

Apterostigma electropilosum is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a single possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. A. electropilosum is one of only two species of the ant genus Apterostigma and one of five attini species to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber.

<i>Formicodiplogaster</i>

Formicodiplogaster is an extinct form genus of nematodes in the family Diplogasteridae which currently includes a single described species Formicodiplogaster myrmenema. The species is known from early Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. F. myrmenema has been preserved in association with Azteca alpha, one of only two known fossil species in the ant genus Azteca.

Azteca eumeces is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Dolichoderinae known from possibly Miocene fossils found on Hispaniola. A. eumeces is one of only two species in the ant genus Azteca to have been described from fossils, both found in Dominican amber.

Mexican amber

Mexican amber, also known as Chiapas Amber is amber found in Mexico, created during the late Oligocene and Early Miocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era in southwestern North America. As with other ambers, a wide variety of taxa have been found as inclusions including insects and other arthropods, as well as plant fragments and epiphyllous fungi.

<i>Palaeoplethodon</i>

Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae is an extinct salamander species found in Miocene Dominican amber from the Dominican Republic. It is so far the only salamander species known to have existed in the Caribbean.

Japanese amber - Japanese amber is a type of amber that can be found in the north of Japan, near the Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. ↑ George Poinar, Jr. and Roberta Poinar, 1999. The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World, (Princeton University Press) ISBN   0-691-02888-5
  2. ↑ Browne, Malcolm W. (1992-09-25). "40-Million-Year-Old Extinct Bee Yields Oldest Genetic Material". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  3. ↑ George Poinar, Jr. and Roberta Poinar, 1999. The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World, (Princeton University Press) ISBN   0-691-02888-5 [ page needed ]
  4. ↑ Corday, Alec (2006). "Dominican Amber Mines: The Definitive List". The Blue Amber Blog. Archived from the original on 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  5. ↑ Schlee, D. (1984): Notizen über einige Bernsteine und Kopale aus aller Welt. Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk. Ser. C, 18: 29-47, page 35
  6. ↑ http://ambermuseum.eu/en/news/item/172-bursztyn-baltycki-vs-kopal-kolumbijski/.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ George Poinar, Jr; Bukej, Andris (30 July 2017). "First records of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Quaternary Colombian copal". Revista Colombiana de Entomología. 43 (1): 85–90. doi:10.25100/SOCOLEN.V43I1.6654.
  8. ↑ Brody, Rachel H.; Edwards, Howell G.M.; Pollard, A.Mark (May 2001). "A study of amber and copal samples using FT-Raman spectroscopy". Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy. 57 (6): 1325–1338. Bibcode:2001AcSpA..57.1325B. doi:10.1016/S1386-1425(01)00387-0. PMID   11419475.
  9. ↑ L. Linati and D. Sacchi, V. Bellani, E. Giulotto (2005). "The origin of the blue fluorescence in Dominican amber". J. Appl. Phys. 97: 016101. doi:10.1063/1.1829395.
  10. ↑ Browne, Malcolm W. (1992-09-25). "40-Million-Year-Old Extinct Bee Yields Oldest Genetic Material". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  11. ↑ George Poinar, Jr. and Roberta Poinar, 1999. The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World, (Princeton University Press) ISBN   0-691-02888-5
  12. 1 2 Penny, D. (2010). "Chapter 2: Dominican Amber". In Penney, D. (ed.). Biodiversity of Fossils in Amber from the Major World Deposits. Siri Scientific Press. pp. 167–191. ISBN   978-0-9558636-4-6.
  13. ↑ Schlee, D. (1980): Bernstein-Raritaeten (Farben, Strukturen, Fossilen, Handwerk). – 88 S. (mit 55 Farbtafeln); Staatl. Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart.
  14. ↑ Bellani, Vittorio; Giulotto, Enrico; Linati, Laura; Sacchi, Donatella (January 2005). "Origin of the blue fluorescence in Dominican amber". Journal of Applied Physics. 97 (1): 016101. Bibcode:2005JAP....97a6101B. doi:10.1063/1.1829395.
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