Also known as Saxonian amber

Where: Halle, Germany (51.6° N, 12.4° E: paleocoordinates 50.4° N, 8.0° E)

When: Priabonian (38.0 - 33.9 Ma)

• Bitterfeld amber occurs in the "Bernsteinschluff" Horizon, i.e. a part of the Upper "Bitterfelder Glimmersand" in the upper part of the Cottbus Formation. Detailed biostratigraphic investigations favor an uppermost Chattian age for the unit. Originally assigned a Miocene age, and then thought to be redeposited Baltic amber. The chemical composition of Bitterfeld amber is distinct from true Baltic amber (e.g., Sodhi et al., 2013). Hydrogen isotopes indicate that Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers have distinct geographic sources, but carbon isotopes and insects suggest Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers are coeval in age (Wolfe et al., 2016).

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; lithified amber

Size class: mesofossils

Preservation: soft parts, original chitin, amber

Collection methods: Repository: private collection of E. Keding

Primary reference: F. Röschmann and W. Mohrig. 1995. Beiträge zur Kenntnis fossiler Trauermücken aus Sächsischem Bernstein. Teil II. Drei neue Sciariden aus Tertiär-Harzen des Bitterfelder Braunkohlereviers (Insecta, Diptera, Sciaridae). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 69:153-166 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 139215: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 09.02.2013

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)