New Find in Ecuador: A 112-Million-Year-Old Amber
In a discovery that reshapes our understanding of ancient life in the Southern Hemisphere, researchers have identified a 112-million-year-old amber sample from the Hollín Formation in Ecuador’s Oriente Basin. Amber, fossilized tree resin, becomes a rare window into the past when it traps organisms at a moment in time. While amber deposits are widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, this southern find opens new avenues for studying ecosystems during a pivotal era when continents drifted away from Gondwana.
The study, led by paleontologist Xavier Delclòs and colleagues, involved systematic sampling of amber and surrounding rock from the Genoveva quarry. Radiometric dating places the amber in the mid-Cretaceous, a greenhouse period marked by high temperatures and lush, tropical forests. The discovery confirms that resin-producing forests extended across southern Gondwana, leaving behind a rich record of life that would otherwise vanish from the fossil record.
Two Amber Types and What They Show
Researchers identified two distinct formations of amber within the samples. One type formed underground near the roots of resin-producing trees, while a second type formed in the open air where resin droplets hardened in sunlight. Of 60 samples from the open-air category, 21 bio-inclusions were recovered. These inclusions span five major insect orders and even include a fragment of spider silk, offering a rare composite snapshot of an ecosystem from tens of millions of years ago.
The diversity of inclusions includes Diptera (flies), Coleoptera (beetles), and Hymenoptera (ant- and wasp-like insects). Each inclusion carries clues about the ancient forest’s structure: feeding relationships, microhabitats, and the roles these species played within the ecosystem. The presence of spider web fragments further hints at the complexity of predator–prey interactions in these warm, humid forests. The surrounding rock also yielded spores, pollen, and other botanical traces, painting a fuller picture of plant life that sustained the resin-producing trees.
Bio-Inclusions in a Gondwanan Context
What makes this find particularly compelling is its geographic and temporal context. The Hollín Formation amber indicates a southern, tropical forest that thrived when South America, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia were part of the broader Gondwanan landmass. The traits observed in the inclusions—such as the presence of particular insect lineages and decorative pollen types—help scientists reconstruct climate, flora, and insect–plant interactions in a region where such data have been scarce. This discovery challenges researchers to compare southern Hemispheric amber with better-studied Northern Hemisphere deposits, potentially revealing different evolutionary pressures and biodiversity patterns across latitudes during the mid-Cretaceous.
Implications for Our View of Ancient Biodiversity
By filling a gap in the global amber record, this find provides critical data about how life diversified during a key transitional period in Earth’s history. The 112-million-year timeline places these organisms in a world of shallow seas, rising angiosperms, and dynamic continental configurations. The evidence of thriving resin-producing forests in southern Gondwana suggests that these ecosystems supported a robust insect community and complex plant–insect interactions long before many modern lineages would dominate later in the Cretaceous. Such insights enrich our understanding of how biodiversity responded to climate shifts and geographic isolation, offering a more nuanced picture of prehistoric life on the southern continents.
Looking Ahead
Researchers will continue to analyze the Genoveva quarry samples, seek additional associated rock layers, and compare these finds with contemporary and other fossil amber records. The study underscores the value of integrating paleontology, sedimentology, and paleobotany to reconstruct ancient ecosystems. As scientists decipher more about this 112-million-year-old time capsule, they hope to illuminate the dynamics of life in southern Gondwana and refine models of how early insects and plants co-evolved in a changing world.
