An acclaimed international collection of earth science articles and book reviews on palaeontology, geology, minerals and more
George Burden (Canada) The rickety taxi bumped and rattled its way southward, into the scenic peaks of the Dominican Republic’s northern cordillera. Frequent washouts from seasonal torrential rains make the going tricky and, at times, even a little perilous. However, we finally arrived at a small community, the site of … Read More
David Lamb (UK) For fossil collectors, lapidaries and scientists, the reappearance of Burmite is major news. Burmite is the traditional name for the rare, Cretaceous amber mined in the Upper Hukawng Valley of northern Burma (Myanmar). It is the hardest, oldest and, in the opinion of many collectors, the most … Read More
E R Matheau-Raven (UK) Amber is the hardened resin of coniferous and angiosperm trees. Resin should not be confused with sap, which is a product of photosynthesis that consists of sugars, water and dissolved minerals. The sticky extrusive mass that comes from a cut on a pine tree is resin. … Read More
Dr David Penney, founder and owner of the excellent Siri Scientific Press (whose books I have frequently reviewed in this magazine), has writen about Miocene spider inclusions in amber from deposits of the Dominican Republic.
Anthonie Hellemond (Belgium) Spiders represent the most diverse group of obligate predators (that is, predators that feed solely on other animals) in terrestrial ecosystems today, with almost 48,000 extant species in 118 families described to date. The number increases annually by approximately 500 species as a result of new discoveries … Read More
David Penny (UK) I have written this article as a summary of how I established myself in the fossil publishing business because it might be of interest to a general readership. First, a little background about myself is in order. I have had a life-long interest in natural history, especially … Read More
Adiël Klompmaker (USA) Who would like to carry a parasite? I bet not many people would like to have one or more. They are nevertheless very common in humans and in other organisms, and can affect entire food webs including keystone species. They tend to be small compared to the … Read More
Jack Wilkin (UK) The Museum am Löwentor in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, is one of the world’s greatest depositories of fossils. The museum was founded in 1985 and, since then, it has built up a vast collection of over 4.1 million fossils and has a 3,500m2 exhibition space, spilt over two levels. … Read More
Dr David Penney and Dr David I Green (UK) Copal (derived from the Spanish copalli meaning incense), the precursor of amber, is subfossilised tree resin not old or polymerised enough to be classed as amber. Given that the transformation of resin into copal and then into amber is dependent on … Read More
Gary Platt (UK) Amber has a deep fascination for people, both as a gem and as a chance to look back into the past with a remarkable clarity. Its warm, lustrous touch beguiles us and the remarkable inclusions sometimes found within it capture our imagination. Amber is found all over … Read More
Blake Reher (USA) Throughout Roman times, amber was considered the ‘Gold of the North’. It was believed to have medicinal properties that cured arthritis, protected people from suffering mental illness, and healed sore throats. People also thought it had magical properties that gave the wearer bravery. Amber was also a … Read More
Dr David Penney (UK) and Dr Jason Dunlop (Germany) When it comes to fossils, arachnids are not a group that obviously springs to mind. However, with more than 100,000 described living species, Arachnida form the second most diverse group of primarily land-living organisms after the insects. And they probably made … Read More
Terence Collingwood (UK) Recently, I was lucky enough to unearth a prize find – a 40-million-year-old, spider-like insect perfectly preserved in amber. I found the valuable harvestman in a piece of prehistoric amber and considered it to be of such scientific interest that I donated it to the National History … Read More
Dr David Penney and Dr David Green (UK) This is the second in a series of articles concerning fossils in amber. In the first, we focused on the biodiversity of organisms in the major deposits of the world, including the techniques available for distinguishing genuine fossils from fakes (see Fossils … Read More
Dr David Penney and Dr David Green (UK) It is almost two decades since the original blockbuster movie, Jurassic Park, brought the existence of fossil insects in amber (fossilised tree resin) into the limelight. Since then, numerous books and research papers have been published. Fossiliferous amber deposits are still being … Read More
Here at Deposits, we like our amber and this certainly isn’t the first book on the subject I have reviewed. In fact, over the years, we have published many articles on the fossilised sap and its inclusions, and have just finished publishing a short, two-article series by the authors of this excellent little publication.
