Amber with Tipulidae (Crane Fly) inclusion

Item Description

A fantastic specimen of this famous material featuring a very well-preserved crane fly inclusion (Superfamily Tipulidae) dating to the Eocene epoch (~44 MYA). This material is always popular on the market, and even though its more of a fossil than a mineral, it's still a cool piece of this well-known material. Best viewed under the microscope or with a loupe, but we did photograph the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. Amber from the Baltic Sea is beautifully fossilized tree resin which well-known for its quality (clarity), color and beauty. The material is also renowned for hosting well-preserved inclusions, particularly insects. These amber nodules originated from the extensive forests that existed in northern Europe, which wash up along the coast line after the material erodes from sediment layers. While Amber has been known to humans for thousands of years, and used as ornaments and jewelry by people around the world, it's one of the few organic materials that finds itself classified along with rocks/crystals/minerals. With that said, actual specimens of Amber (especially those with insect inclusions) have been glorified and in the public consciousness for only the last 30+ years or so thanks to the Jurassic Park film franchise.
Specimen weight is 14.48 grams