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 W. Ludwig (Berlin)
Primary reference: J. Wunderlich. 2004. The fossil Theridiosomatidae (Araneae) in Baltic and Dominican amber. In J. Wunderlich (ed.), Beiträge zur Araneologie 3:998-1019 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details
Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis
PaleoDB collection 149477: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 06.08.2013
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
Insecta | |
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Arachnida | |
Balticonopsis bitterfeldensis n. sp.3
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Eotheridiosoma sp. Wunderlich 2004 ray spider | |
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