Amber formed from the resins of coniferous plants that underwent the fossilisation process during the Cretaceous to Neogene periods. As the amber formed, insects, seeds and foliage were sometimes covered by the resin to become fossils inside the amber; hence, they are called amber fossils. Some are small animals (e.g., beetles, flies and mosquitoes), and some are plants (e.g., fruit, seeds and leaves). Most of China’s amber fossils come from the Palaeogene coalfields in Fushun, Liaoning Province, where high-quality insect amber has been mined. Similar fossils have been excavated in Nanyang in Xixia, Henan Province, Baoshan, Lijiang Ailao Mountain in Yunnan Province and Zhang Pu in Fujian Province (Fig. 12).
Insects inside amber
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(2020). Amber Fossil. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_48
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