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University of Silesia in Katowice

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Institute of Earth Sciences
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The remains of echinoderms trapped in amber

20.04.2020 - 10:25 update 15.03.2021 - 12:27
Editors: szczepansamulewicz

An employee of the Institute of Earth Sciences of the University of Silesia (Mariusz Salamon) published together with scientists from Poland, Japan, the United States and Taiwan, the article entitled: Paleoenvironmental and biostratigraphic implications of echinoderm ossicles trapped within Burmese amber, in the journal Palaios. The authors reminded that marine organisms are extremely rarely preserved within the ambers. They are rather found on their surfaces or within the sediment surrounding the amber. Currently, the remains of Cretaceous crinoids and echinoids have been found in ambers from Myanmar (formerly Burma). This observation confirms earlier hypotheses saying that Myanmar amber originated in the mid-Cretaceous in the immediate vicinity of the sea.

Figure caption: Crinoid columnal occurring on the surface of Myanmar’s amber; the crinoid diameter is 3 mm. Specimen from the museum collection of the National Taiwan University. Photo: Dr. Jih-Pai Lin.

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