New Horizons of Amber [Archives:1999/41/Last Page]

Ali Qhasim Abdu Abn Al-A’beda
The curiosity and the ambition which I had harbored since I was a child, for earning distinction have propelled me to realize my dream. I have collected more than fifty pieces of excavations. These pieces have a peculiar insects inside.
Biologists have discovered new kinds of insects inside the amber. This has helped scientists in this field to throw light on the life cycle of insects. Amber is a mucilaginous material which comes out from the roots of trees. Then, it becomes a solid material, which keeps and protects insects from natural changes for a long period of time. Andross, a biologist in London museum has done seminal studies in this field.  He did studies about some of the insects which are thriving inside the amber, which are as old as 40 million-years. Ross, another biologist, found that approximately 10 % of amber contains normal insects, and 1 % contains extraordinary insects. His researches made substantial contribution to understand about 80 % of insects at the London museum, with about (300) parts.  This material is found in different countries of the world, the large number is found in Paltice countries, and the Republic of Dominican. So, the oldest samples of this material in Paltice dates back to 40 million-year, while the oldest one in Dominican Republic belongs to 20 million-year.
Few of this material is seen in Canada, Siberia, United States of America, Burma, Mexico and Sakhalia. Amber takes yellow and orange color. It is a heavy material which is useful for handicrafts industries. The oldest instance of amber is 300 million years old, while the oldest which contains insects belongs to 120 million years. It was found in Lebanon and United Kingdom. Some of these parts which are shown in the picture are found in some places of Yemen. The first picture contains a fossilized bee inside the amber, the second picture contains eight insects and the third one contains a housefly. This housefly is 50 million years old. It is still preserved in different international museums.

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