Amber with Ant & Insect Inclusions. Burmite. Cretaceous. Hukawng Valley, Myitkyina District, Kachin State, Myanmar...

Description

Amber with Ant & Insect Inclusions
Burmite
Cretaceous
Hukawng Valley, Myitkyina District, Kachin State, Myanmar

Very thin and completely transparent, this example of Burmite weighing just over 2.5 grams is a stunner. A virtual ecosystem "frozen in time," the offering includes an abundance of inclusions with a primitive ant of the Sphecomyrma variety, as well as part of a second ant, a true bug, two beetles, a homoptera nymph, a small cricket, and a millipede, plus over a dozen small flies and midges. Light and clear, this piece showcases the ants, which are so different from any modern varieties they may represent a parallel branch of ant evolution that died out, while the true ants continued, much like how the dinosaurs went extinct, while their relatives, the birds, flourished. This thin, polished, and rounded triangular-shaped Amber looks a bit like an abstract guitar pick.
Measurements: 1.41 x 0.83 x 0.21 inches (3.58 x 2.11 x 0.54 cm)



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