Paleontologists in China have identified what is now considered the world's oldest chemically verified amber. The newly reported specimen has been dated to about 385 million years ago, pushing the known history of amber much farther back in time.
The find is especially striking because it predates dinosaurs by roughly 140 million years. That means the resin that eventually became amber formed during a much earlier chapter of Earth's history than many well-known fossil discoveries preserved in younger deposits.
Researchers say the sample overtakes the previous record holder for oldest verified amber. The study centers on chemical verification, an important step in confirming that a specimen is truly amber rather than another ancient organic material.
The discovery adds to scientific understanding of when resin-producing plants were already present on Earth and how early ecosystems may have preserved biological material. By extending amber's confirmed fossil record, the find offers a new reference point for studying ancient plant life and the deep history of terrestrial environments.
