See the Largest Flower Ever Found Encased in Amber.
The fossilization process is an unrelenting slog of decay, compression and erosion that can take millions of years and favors the preservation of tough material such as bones, teeth and shells.
But with a little bit of sticky tree resin and a lot of luck, delicate bits of plants and tiny critters can sometimes last for tens of millions of years.
As the resin petrifies and turns into amber, it preserves whatever gets stuck inside of it—including insects, slime molds and even pint-sized dinosaurs —in a gold-tinted time capsule.
A team of researchers recently rediscovered one particularly stunning amber inclusion stashed away in overlooked museum collections for 150 years: a nearly 40-million-year-old fossilized flower.
This tawny blossom, which looks like it was just plucked out of a bouquet, is the largest flower ever found in amber, the team reported on Thursday in a new study published in Scientific Reports.
The blossom is so well preserved that the researchers were able to identify its floral descendants now residing a continent away.
Foreign [Music] See the largest flower ever found Encased in Amber the fossilization Process is an unrelenting slog of Decay Compression and erosion that can take Millions of years and favors the Preservation of tough material such as Bones teeth and shells but with a little Bit of sticky tree resin and a lot of Luck delicate bits of plants and Tiny Critters can sometimes last for tens of Millions of years as the resin petrifies And turns into Amber it preserves Whatever gets stuck inside of it Including insects slime molds and even Pint-sized dinosaurs in a gold tinted Time Capsule a team of researchers Recently rediscovered one particularly Stunning Amber inclusion stashed away in Overlooked Museum collections for 150 Years and nearly 40 million year old Fossilized flower this Tawny Blossom Which looks like it was just plucked out Of a bouquet is the largest flower ever Found in Amber the team reported on Thursday in a new study published in Scientific reports the blossom is so Well preserved that the researchers were Able to identify its floral design Ascendants now reciting a continent away To stay up to date with latest top Stories make sure to subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking the button
Above this video the stunning find comes From the region around the Baltic Sea One of the world's Premier Amber hot Spots thanks to the vast forests of Resin seeping conifers that once covered The area during the late yaseen epic Between 38 million and 34 million years Ago a glob of tacky resin used out of One of these trees and drip down Ensnaring the flower at just more than An inch across the fossilized flower may Not sound particularly large but it is About three times the size of most other Amber preserved flowers and larger than Nearly half of all other baltic amber Pieces according to study co-author Eva Maria Sadowski a paleobotanist at Berlin's Museum of Natural History Leibniz Institute for evolution and Biodiversity science large flowers are Rarely found in Amber because it would Take an incredibly large outpouring of Resin to encase the entire Blossom if You found a singular flower they are Usually quite small she says the newly Reported fossil was uncovered sometime In the 19th century when scientists Scoured local mines and coastlines for Amber the flower originally named Storchikolowski in 1872 was put in a Glass case filled with modern tree resin And then largely forgotten according to George pointer Jr and Oregon State University entomologist who specializes
In studying insects and plants entombed In Amber the flowers mere existence Today is noteworthy there were many Flowers described back then but most Were lost to science during the World War says Poynter who was not involved in The new study Sadowski says a retired Colleague tipped her off at one of the Amber specimens in the collection of the Federal Institute for geosciences and Natural resources in Germany contained a Strikingly large flower Sadowski Immediately knew it was something Special and she jumped at the Opportunity to re-examine one of these Historical specimens with Cutting Edge Technology the flower's fragile Reproductive organs were so well Preserved that her team was able to Extract intact grains of pollen with a Scalpel under a scanning electron Microscope the pollen grains which Resembled inflated arrowheads were Reminiscent of pollen from Tiny trees And shrubs in Asia that belonged to the Genus and flocos today these evergreen Trees are found in humid high altitude Forests and produce yellow or white Blossoms to reflect the entuned flowers Newly uncovered identity the researchers Have proposed it be renamed simplocos Koluski making it the first record of an Ancient simploko's plant preserved in Baltic amber basing their conclusions on
This tree's modern relatives the Researchers believe it would have been Right at home among the sapi conifers And the warm climate that the Baltic Region experienced during the easeen Sadowski thinks each new plant helps Bring this Ancient Forest into Focus I See each specimen as a piece of the Puzzle to gain more knowledge about the Whole Forest she says Foreign [Music]
