Insects in Amber

We can extract a range of information about the past insect faunas (as well as plants and other animals) of particular global areas from amber fossils. Such fossils are normally preserved with such clarity that they can be compared in minute detail with extant representatives and offer opportunities...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of entomology 1993-01, Vol.38 (1), p.145-159
Main Author: Poinar, G O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ANIMAL ECOLOGY
BIOGEOGRAFIA
BIOGEOGRAPHIE
BIOGEOGRAPHY
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
ECOLOGIA ANIMAL
ECOLOGIE ANIMALE
ESPECE
ESPECIES
EVOLUCION
EVOLUTION
Exact sciences and technology
FAUNA
FAUNE
FOREST PRODUCTS
FOSSIL INSECTS
INSECTA
Invertebrate paleontology
LITERATURE REVIEWS
PALAEONTOLOGY
PALEOENTOMOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGIA
PALEONTOLOGIE
PALEONTOLOGY
PRODUCTOS FORESTALES
PRODUIT FORESTIER
SINECOLOGIA
SPECIES
SPECIES DIVERSITY
Stratigraphy
SYNECOLOGIE
SYNECOLOGY
TISSUE PRESERVATION
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Summary:We can extract a range of information about the past insect faunas (as well as plants and other animals) of particular global areas from amber fossils. Such fossils are normally preserved with such clarity that they can be compared in minute detail with extant representatives and offer opportunities to study both micro- and macroevolution. Amber fossils provide the earliest known records of some insect orders and families and numerous genera and species and are important in reconstructing insect phylogenetic lines. Much effort has been made in attempting to determine primitive and derived characters based on an interpretation of extant forms. Fossils show irrefutably what characters were present at a particular time in the earth's history. As demonstrated here, amber fossils can also tell us about the behavior of extinct insects, the earlier structure of their biological communities, and symbiotic associations in the past. In essence, they provide us with an opportunity to discover many details of the past world of small organisms that are unavailable through other types of fossils.
ISSN:0066-4170
1545-4487
DOI:10.1146/annurev.en.38.010193.001045