Paleontologists in China have discovered the oldest chemically verified amber ever found, dating to 385 million years ago. That's approximately 140 million years before dinosaurs roamed Earth. The previous record holder was an amber sample from the Late Carboniferous period, dating to about 320 million years ago.
Amber is fossilized resin, the sticky substance that plants release to seal wounds and protect themselves from infection. This discovery was made by Cihang Luo of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues in fossil deposits in the Hujiersite Formation in China.
An accidental discovery
The team wasn't specifically searching for amber. They were collecting bulk coal samples to study fossilized plants and the ancient environment of the Middle Devonian period. However, when they shone an ultraviolet (UV) flashlight over the coal, parts of it fluoresced brilliant blue, a characteristic glow often associated with amber.
The amber was not in one piece but in hundreds of tiny fragments. In all, the scientists extracted 241 tiny amber pieces from about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of coal, as they detail in a paper published in the journal Science Advances. Most fragments measured less than half a millimeter across.
They performed a range of tests on the samples, including infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, to determine what they were made of. They concluded that the amber had hallmarks of modern conifer-type resins, although they could not determine which group of ancient plants produced the substance.
Determining age
The research team did not date the amber itself. The age of the coal layer had already been established from geological evidence and studies of fossil spores. This placed it in the Middle Devonian around 385 million years ago. "Our chemically verified Hujiersite amber represents the earliest confirmed amber record thus far," the authors wrote in their paper.
The researchers believe that resin originally evolved as a way for plants to heal wounds and survive a hostile ancient world. During the Devonian period, there was only limited evidence that arthropods fed on vascular plants, but there were other threats, such as wildfires and parasitic fungi.
Being able to quickly seal damage would have given early plants a survival boost, as the scientists suggest. "The early emergence of resin production may have promoted the ecological success of Devonian-Carboniferous terrestrial floras by enhancing protection and wound sealing."
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Publication details
Cihang Luo et al, The earliest amber from the Middle Devonian of China, Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeh1266
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Citation: A new record holder for the world's oldest amber discovered in China (2026, July 16) retrieved 16 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-holder-world-oldest-amber-china.html
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