Amber Fossils Revealed by Synchrotron Imaging
Résumé
Amber is of great paleontological value because it preserves a diverse array of organisms
from different habitats in and close to the amber-producing forests. Terrestrial arthropods are
the most commonly preserved inclusions but, in rare instances, amber also contains small
mollusks, reptiles, birds, feathers, mammal hairs, plants, and various microbes. Thus, amber
discoveries help tracing the evolutionary history of lineages with otherwise poor fossil
records, and they also provide insight into the diversity and ecology of terrestrial
paleoecosystems.
Inclusions in translucent amber are commonly studied using standard optical
microscopes, but the minute size as well as the position of inclusions in an amber piece can
prevent the full morphological and anatomical views. Moreover, a significant portion of amber
is partly or fully opaque, and biological inclusions in such amber are invisible. Synchrotron
imaging techniques are powerful tools to access such poorly exposed and invisible
inclusions1. An optimized imaging protocol has been developed2, using propagation phase
contrast X-ray synchrotron microradiography to efficiently survey large amounts of opaque
amber after immersion in water, followed by phase contrast microtomography for precise
characterization of selected organisms.
REFERENCES
1. P. Tafforeau et al. 2006. Appl. Phys. A: Mater. 83, 195-202 (2006).
2. M. Lak, D. Néraudeau, A. Nel, P. Cloetens, V. Perrichot and P. Tafforeau, Microsc. Microanal. 14, 251-259 (2008).