title: Evidence for marine microfossils from amber.
abstract: Amber usually contains inclusions of terrestrial and rarely limnetic organisms that were embedded in the places were they lived in the amber forests. Therefore, it has been supposed that amber could not have preserved marine organisms. Here, we report the discovery amber-preserved marine microfossils. Diverse marine diatoms as well as radiolarians, sponge spicules, a foraminifer, and a spine of a larval echinoderm were found in Late Albian and Early Cenomanian amber samples of southwestern France. The highly fossiliferous resin samples solidified approximately 100 million years ago on the floor of coastal mixed forests dominated by conifers. The amber forests of southwestern France grew directly along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and were influenced by the nearby sea: shells and remnants of marine organisms were probably introduced by wind, spray, or high tide from the beach or the sea onto the resin flows.
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 6118, 263 avenue du Général Leclerc, F-35042 Rennes Cedex, France. vincent.girard@univ-rennes1.fr
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Girard
authors.forename: Alexander R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saint Martin
authors.forename: Steffi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Struwe
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perrichot
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Saint Martin
authors.forename: Danièle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grosheny
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Breton
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Néraudeau
mesh_terms: D018647:Amber; D000818:Animals; D017377:Diatoms / Q000166:cytology*; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000166:cytology*; D005580:Fossils; D005602:France; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008386:Marine Biology; D010163:Paleontology
chemical_list: D018647:Amber