Rovno amber, occasionally called Ukrainian amber, [1] is amber found in the Rivne Oblast and surrounding regions of Ukraine and Belarus. The amber is dated between Late Eocene and Early Oligocene, and suggested to be contemporaneous to Baltic amber (Prussian Formation). Major exploration and mining of the amber did not start until the 1990s.
The late Eocene amber is hosted in the Obukhov Formation, with early reports of occurrences in the underlying Mezhigorje Formation as well, [2] [3] with the Mezhigorje Formation being where most of the amber is found. The formations are found along the northwestern margin of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield [4] exposed in the Rivne region of the Ukraine and across the border near Rechitsa in the Gomel Region of Belarus. [5] The granite basement rock was overlain by sandy to clayey deposits that were host to alluvial amber. [3] The two formations total between 2–7 m (6.6–23.0 ft) in thickness, both containing interbeds or mixtures of brown coals and carbonized vegetation. Both formations are sandy to clayey in texture, with the Obukhov having more clayey glauconite-quartz plus sandy loess, while the Mezhigorje is mostly medium to fine grained sands of a greenish gray tone, and with occasional iron impregnation and layering. [6]
Small amounts of rough, partially worked, and fully shaped amber have been recovered from Paleolithic and Neolithic sites in the Dnieper area. At a site near Mezhyrich, four large mammoth bone huts attributed to Cro-Magnon Homo sapiens included over 300 pieces of amber attributed to Rivne origins. Many of the amber pieces are roughly fashioned into triangular and circular shapes. Dating of the site ranges between 13,300 and 10,500 B.C., when the regions of Baltic amber deposits in Kaliningrad and Lithuania were still covered with ice-sheets. A small female statuette of carved amber was found near Dobranichevka, while a 12 cm (4.72 in) disc with a central hole, and a hunting scene carved on one side was found in a Globular Amphora culture tomb in the Dubno district of Ukraine. [3]
The main use of amber until the 20th century was for burning, and rarely was it shaped for crafts. [3] As such, before the 1990s amber recovery wasn't overseen by the Ukrainian government, with small amounts found after rains and thaws and during well construction and while the Kyiv-Kovel rail line was being built. [2] Small scale collecting of the amber started to gain momentum in the 1950s when granite deposits in the Klesiv area were beginning to be developed. At that time the amber was picked from drainage piles and tailings dumps of the granite quarries, [2] often limited in access by the quarry operators. [3] Following an increase in the amber for jewelry production in Kyiv, Lithuania, and Poland, during the 1970s investigation and eventual start of the Pugach quarry in Klesiv culminated in 1991. In 1993 the Ukrainian government first started state overseen mining, under the auspices of Ukrburshtyn and at the same time making other major amber mining illegal. The current mining, centered on the Pugach quarry is operated by Burshtyn-Ukrainy. [3]
90% of Ukrainian amber is extracted illegally and the trade is controlled by armed organised crime groups. The amber is extracted by pumping water into the sandy sediments forcing the amber to the surface, creating pits. Areas where the amber is found are often covered in pine-beech forest, which is illegally deforested to extract the amber. Annual volumes of amber extracted illegally are suggested to be around 300 tons. [7] The richest placer deposits of Rivne amber are associated with the Obukhiv (late Eocene) and Mezhigorje (early Oligocene) Formations; deposits in the Kyiv region are known to come from the base of the Mezhigorje Fm. [8] The majority of Rivne amber is mined from the lower part of the aforementioned Formation, with the most notable locality being the Pugach Quarry in Klesiv. [9]
Amber from the Klesiv deposit and others in Ukraine have up to 0.1% Fe giving many pieces yellow-brown and brownish red tones to the amber, [10] though nearly crystal clear to totally opaque are found as well. Rare pieces have light green to pale green coloration, which typically fades to yellow after a year or two in the small pieces. However, larger pieces of green amber between 200–400 grams (7.1–14.1 oz) are more stable in color and have not faded after a decade. [3] Most of the amber from the Klesiv area has an oxidization crust between 1.5–2.0 millimetres (0.059–0.079 in) thick and brown to dark brown in coloration. Amber from the Volnoje area northwest of Klesiv often show a smooth transparent dark yellow crust, which is rarely seen in Klesiv specimens. [3] Similar to Baltic amber, Rivne amber is viscous in plasticity and unaltered pieces of both have a density of 0.98–1.13 g/cm3. Infrared spectroscopy of the amber shows carboxyl, hydroxyl, peroxide, and complex ester functional groups and additionally single and double bonds in the molecular structure are present placing Rivne amber in the succinite range, same as Baltic amber. Trace amounts of Pb, Y, Zn, Zr, and some other elements are present in Rivne amber. Small to no detectable amounts of those elements are detected in Baltic amber. [10]
There are a number of arthropod taxa, ranging from planthoppers, such as Alicodoxa , and ants to mites and spiders that are shared between Rivne and Baltic amber. [3] As of 2016 there were 193 ant species described from Priabonian age European ambers, with all but 56 of the species being found in or described originally from Baltic amber, while Rivne amber hosts 31 of the 56 species that are not known from Baltic amber. [11] Based on the differences in ant fauna between Baltic amber and Rivne amber, it has been suggested by Perkovsky that the two were different areas of a large forest that covered Late Eocene to early Oligocene Europe. [2] The spiders of Rivne amber are similar to Baltic amber ones, but there is a notable percentage that are unique species not shared between the two. Similarly the gall midges from Rivne amber are entirely unique to Rivne and not shared at all with the Baltic amber. A drier climate for the Rivne forest is also suggested based on the high percentage of the Collembola families Entomobryidae and Sminthuridae, 59.7% and 24.5% respectively of the Collembola fauna. Baltic amber fly families have a distinct percentage of families associated with aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats, such as Chironomidae, while the Rivne fly fauna includes nearly double the amount of Sciaridae, Tipulidae, Mycetophilidae and other families associated with leaf litter habitats, called the "Sciara" zone. This is also seen in the coleopterans. There is an overall smaller number of aphids, a condition suggesting a possible subtropical climate for the Rivne forest, while the percentage of the hymenopteran family Scelionidae suggests a drier climate as well. [2]
There are several hundred families of arthropods identified from Rovno amber, with major reviews being compiled by Perkovsky et al (2003, 2007, 2010).
Family indeterminate
Family indeterminate
Scydmaeninae are a subfamily of small beetles, commonly called ant-like stone beetles or scydmaenines. These beetles occur worldwide, and the subfamily includes some 4,500 species in about 80 genera. Established as a family, they were reduced in status to a subfamily of Staphylinidae in 2009
Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the resin for more than 100,000 tons of amber. Today, more than 90% of the world's amber comes from Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. It is a major source of income for the region; the local Kaliningrad Amber Combine extracted 250 tonnes of it in 2014 and 400 tonnes in 2015.
Psyllototus is an extinct genus of flea beetles described from the late Eocene Rovno amber of Ukraine, and from the Baltic amber of Russia and Denmark. It was named by Konstantin Nadein and Evgeny Perkovsky in 2010, and the type species is Psyllototus progenitor. In 2016, a newly described extant flea beetle genus from Bolivia, Chanealtica, was found to be most similar to Psyllototus, based on the characters available for observation.
Epiborkhausenites is an extinct genus of moth in the concealer moth family Oecophoridae and containing a single species Epiborkhausenites obscurotrimaculatus. The species is known only from Middle Eocene, Bartonian stage, Baltic amber deposits near the town of Palanga in Lithuania.
Yantaromyrmex is an extinct genus of ants first described in 2013. Members of this genus are in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae, known from Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene fossils found in Europe. The genus currently contains five described species, Y. constrictus, Y. geinitzi, Y. intermedius, Y. mayrianum and Y. samlandicus. The first specimens were collected in 1868 and studied by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr, who originally placed the fossils in other ant genera until the fossils were reviewed and subsequently placed into their own genus. These ants are small, measuring from 4 to 6 mm in length and can be characterized by their trapezoidal shaped head-capsules and oval compound eyes that are located slightly to the rear of the capsules midpoint, with no known ocelli present.
Zherichinius is an extinct genus of ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae known from fossils found in amber from the Middle Eocene of Sakhalin island Far eastern Russia and Bitterfeld, Germany. At the time of description the species Zherichinius horribilis and Zherichinius rapax were two of eight ant species known from Sakhalin fossils.
Bradoponera is an extinct genus of ant in the Formicidae subfamily Proceratiinae, and is one of four genera of the subfamily. The genus contains four described species Bradoponera electrina, Bradoponera meieri, Bradoponera similis, and Bradoponera wunderlichi. The species are known from several Middle Eocene amber fossils which were found in Europe.
Embolemidae is a family of small solitary parasitoid wasps with around 70 species in 2 genera distributed around the world. The few species whose biology is known are parasites on planthopper nymphs of the families Achilidae and Cixiidae. There is debate regarding the status of the genus named Ampulicomorpha by Ashmead in 1893, generally considered now to be a junior synonym of Embolemus (e.g.,), though some authorities dispute this (e.g.,)
Pachycondyla succinea is an extinct species of ant in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae described from fossils found in Europe. P. petrosa is one of three middle Eocene Pachycondyla species found in Baltic amber.
Alicodoxa is an genus of extinct planthoppers in the family Dictyopharidae. It contains a single described species, Alicodoxa rasnitsyni, known from several Late Eocene fossils found in Europe.
Nylanderia pygmaea is an extinct species of formicid in the ant subfamily Formicinae known from fossils found in the Prussian Formation of the Baltic region.
Winnertziinae is a subfamily of gall midges and wood midges in the family Cecidomyiidae.
Cyclaxyridae are a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea. The only living genus is Cyclaxyra, with two species endemic to New Zealand. Other species have been named from fossils. They are also known as sooty mould beetles due to the association of Cyclaxyra with sooty mould. The extant species are mycophagous, feeding on spores, conidia, and hyphae.
Proneuronema is an extinct genus of lacewings in the neuropteran family Hemerobiidae known from fossils found in amber. The genus currently contains three species, P. gradatum and P. minor from Baltic amber and P. sidorchukae from Rovno amber. A Ypresian fossil from Washington state was initially also placed within the genus, having been moved from its original placement as Cretomerobius wehri, but was subsequently moved to the separate genus Archibaldia by Vladimir Makarkin (2023).
This paleoentomology list records new fossil insect taxa that were to be described during the year 2021, as well as notes other significant paleoentomology discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
This paleoentomology list records new fossil insect taxa that are to be described during the year 2022, as well as notes other significant paleoentomology discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
This list of 2023 in paleoentomology records new fossil insect taxa that are to be described during the year, as well as documents significant paleoentomology discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
This list of 2024 in paleoentomology records new fossil insect taxa that are to be described during the year, as well as documents significant paleoentomology discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
The Mezhigorje Formation is a geologic formation in Belarus and Ukraine that dates to the Early Oligocene. Rovno amber is found in this formation and it has been studied since the 1990s.
The Obukhov Formation is a geologic formation in Belarus and Ukraine that dates to the Late Eocene; the Obukhov Formation is equivalent to the Prussian Formation of Russia.
Media related to Rovno amber at Wikimedia Commons