Amber Inclusions from Myanmar – Windows into an Ancient World
For nearly 100 million years, Kachin amber has preserved extraordinary traces of a vanished ecosystem.
MacroAmber – A Visual Reference to Life in Kachin Amber
High quality macro and micro photography reveals insects, arachnids, plants, fungi and other organisms in great detail. Most specimens are scientifically identified to family level, while many are identified to genus or even species level.
MacroAmber is best explored on a desktop or laptop, offering easier navigation through the collection and allowing the fine details of the high resolution images to be fully appreciated.
Kachin Amber – A Window into Cretaceous Life
Kachin amber from northern Myanmar, also widely known as Burmese amber or Burmite, dates back nearly 100 million years to the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs still lived on Earth.
It preserves an extraordinary diversity of life from an ancient forest ecosystem. Insects, arachnids, plants, fungi and even small vertebrates have been found in the amber, sometimes with extremely fine details such as hairs, scales and delicate body structures still visible.
Only a small fraction of inclusions are preserved well enough to reveal fine details. Most inclusions are dark, obscured or difficult to examine. Finding a clear and exceptionally well preserved specimen often requires searching through many pieces of amber.
These rare specimens provide a unique view into a vanished ecosystem and help us understand the remarkable diversity of life that existed in Myanmar during the Cretaceous Period.