Red Amber Myanmar
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is a type of amber that originates from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. This amber is estimated to be around 100 million years old, dating back to the mid-Cretaceous period, specifically the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages. One of the main reasons Burmese amber is of significant interest to paleontologists is due to the wide variety of preserved flora and fauna, including arthropods such as insects and arachnids, as well as birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, and even fragmentary dinosaur remains.
Ringed by steep mountain ranges to the north, east and west, the valley is known as a habitat of tigers, but encroachment by man has greatly decreased their numbers, to perhaps as few as 100 animals. In 2004, the government established the world’s largest tiger preserve in the Hukawng Valley, the Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, with an area of approximately 6,500 km2 (2,500 sq mi); later, the Sanctuary was extended to 21,800 km2, making it the largest protected area in mainland Southeast Asia. The government’s establishment of the preserve was accomplished in cooperation with the Kachin Independent Army, a formerly-rebel group that inhabits the region.
The extremely rare leaf muntjac, also known as the phet-gyi, dwarf deer or leaf deer, also lives in the Hukawng.
The history of Burmese amber goes back centuries. It has been known and commercially exploited since the first century AD and has been a subject of scientific research since the mid-nineteenth century. However, the amber’s excavation and research have not been without controversy. There are allegations that the trade of Burmese amber has funded internal conflicts in Myanmar and that the working conditions in the mines where it is collected are hazardous.
Geologically, Burmese amber is found within the Hukawng Basin, a sedimentary basin in northern Myanmar. The basin is part of the larger Myanmar Central Basin and is considered to be associated with the concepts of the Cimmeria and Sibumasu terranes. The exact tectonic history and timing of rifting are still uncertain. The amber is found within fine-grained clastic rocks, primarily sandstone and siltstone, with occasional coal horizons and limestone interbeds.
The paleoenvironment in which the Burmese amber forest existed was a tropical rainforest situated near the coast. The resin that eventually formed the amber was transported into a shallow marine environment. The presence of marine shells and growth of crinoids, corals, and oysters on the surface of some amber pieces indicate the influence of marine conditions during the final deposition. However, there is evidence to suggest that the initial environment of deposition was a downstream estuarine to freshwater section of a river, with the forests extending across coastal rivers, river deltas, lakes, lagoons, and coastal bays. The forest environment may have been prone to fire, similar to modern tropical peat swamps, based on the presence of fire-adapted plants and burned plant remains found in the amber.
The Burmese amber itself is primarily disc-shaped and flattened along the bedding plane. It ranges in color from shades of yellow to red and is considered to be of coniferous origin, most likely from an araucarian or pine source tree.
The diversity of fauna and flora preserved in Burmese amber is remarkable. Over 1,000 species of invertebrates have been identified, including ancient members of various arthropod groups like spiders, pseudoscorpions, scorpions, mites, opiliones, and schizomids. Additionally, the amber has provided insights into the world of ancient myriapods, whip scorpions, whip spiders, and even extinct groups like mesothelae and ricinulei.
The list of taxa is extraordinarily diverse, with over 42 classes, 108 orders, 569 families, 1017 genera and 1379 species described as of the end of 2019, with over 300 species described in 2019 alone, the vast majority (94%) of which are arthropods. A complete list of taxa up until the end of 2018 can be found in Ross 2018[16] And a supplement covering most of 2019 can be found in Ross 2019b.[17] For the sake of brevity, a complete list of taxa is not given here, and the classification is mostly at family level. For a more complete list of taxa, see Paleobiota of Burmese amber.