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Mexican amber

Mexican amber is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mexican amber rather than just read about it. In short: Mexican amber, also known as Chiapas Amber, is amber found in Mexico, created during the Early Miocene and middle Miocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era in southwestern North America. As with other ambers, a wide variety of taxa have been found as inclusions including insects and other arthropods, as well as plant fragments and epiphyllous fungi.

Mexican amber — main illustration
Mexican amber — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Mexican amber belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Mexican amber to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Mexican amber from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mexican amber, also known as Chiapas Amber, is amber found in Mexico, created during the Early Miocene and middle Miocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era in southwestern North America. As with other ambers, a wide variety of taxa have been found as inclusions including insects and other arthropods, as well as plant fragments and epiphyllous fungi.

Context

Mexican amber is mainly recovered from fossil bearing rocks in the Simojovel region of Chiapas, Mexico. It is one of the main minerals recovered in the state of Chiapas, much of which is from 23 to 27 million years old, with quality comparable to that found in the Dominican Republic. Chiapan amber has a number of unique qualities, including much that is clear all the way through and some with fossilized insects and plants. Most Chiapan amber is worked into jewelry including pendants, rings and necklaces. Mexican legislation recognises 17 different colorations that range from white over yellow/orange and pink to a deep red but also include green, blue, and black varieties. Since pre-Hispanic times, native peoples have believed amber to have healing and protective qualities. The largest amber mine is in Simojovel, a small village 130 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which produces 95% of Chiapas' amber. Other mines are found in Huitiupán, Totolapa, El Bosque, Pueblo Nuevo Solistahuacán, Pantelhó and San Andrés Duraznal. According to the Museum of Amber in San Cristóbal, almost 300 kg of amber is extracted per month from the state. Prices vary depending on quality and color. The amber dates from between 22.5 million years old, for the youngest sediments of the Balumtun Sandstone and 27.3 million years old for the oldest La Quinta Formation.

Origin The amber was produced by either the two extinct leguminous trees Hymenaea mexicana or Hymenaea allendis, both of which were initially described from fossil flowers included in Mexican amber.

Regulation Chiapas amber (Spanish: Ámbar de Chiapas) is a protected designation of origin. Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-152-SCFI-2019 establishes a color-based classification scheme and prescribes certain physio-chemical properties that a substance must fulfil to be considered Chiapas amber (including its infrared spectrum and hardness), alongside procedures of scientific verification. Moreover, amber traders must adhere to certain labelling and certification requirements. Mexico's Mining Code (Spanish: Ley minera), on the other hand, does not cover amber as it is considered a resin, not a mineral.

Fossil inclusions

The Tityus apozonalli scorpion holotype fossil is composed of a very complete adult male recovered from the Guadalupe Victoria site. The amber dates from between 23 million years old at the oldest and 15 million years at the youngest. The Guadalupe Victoria site is an outcrop of amber bearing strata belonging to the Mazantic Shale and Balumtum Sandstone. The deposits preserve a transitional river or stream environments near the coast and preserves fossils of a mangrove forest ecosystem. Asteromites mexicanus is an epiphyllous coelomycetes fungus species recovered on a petal. Nine specimens of Miocene crabs are known as inclusions in Chiapas amber.

Arthropod species Agria sp. (a damselfly) Amblypsilopus monicae Bickel 2016 (long-legged fly) Anbarrhacus adamantis (a millipede) Aphaenogaster praerelicta (an ant) Cenocephalus tenuis Peris and Solórzano Kraemer 2015 (ambrosia beetle) Culoptila aguilerai (a caddisfly) Dicromantispa electromexicana (a mantidfly) Erpetogomphus sp. (a dragonfly) Hyptia deansi (a wasp) Leptopharsa tacanae (a lace bug) Litaneutria pilosuspedes Terriquez et al. 2022 (mantis) Maatidesmus paachtun (a millipede) Mastotermes electromexicus (a termite) Medetera amissa Bickel 2016 (long-legged fly) Medetera totolapa Bickel 2016 (long-legged fly) Mesorhaga pseudolacrymans Bickel 2016 (long-legged fly) Neoparentia chiapensis Bickel 2016 (long-legged fly) Parastemmiulus elektron (a millipede) Peloropeodes paleomexicana Bickel 2016 (long-legged fly) Schwenckfeldina archoica (a fungus gnat) Termitaradus protera (a termite bug) Tesserocerus simojovelensis Peris and Solórzano Kraemer 2015 (ambrosia beetle) Tityus apozonalli (a scorpion) Tityus knodeli (a scorpion) Tonocatecutlius sp. (a planthopper)

References

External links Media related to Mexican amber at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Mexican amber: Polished Amber stones from Simijovel at the Museum of Amber (Museo del Ámbar) in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Polished Amber stones from Simijovel at the Museum of Amber (Museo del Ámbar) in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Mexican amber: Some amber sites in Mexico
Some amber sites in Mexico
Mexican amber: Piece of amber with scorpion as seen through magnifying glass at the Museum of Amber in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Piece of amber with scorpion as seen through magnifying glass at the Museum of Amber in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mexican amber

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mexican amber claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mexican amber before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mexican amber ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mexican amber

In research
Mexican amber appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Mexican amber in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Mexican amber is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fossils of Mexico, Mexican Designation of Origin, Mexican amber, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Mexican amber outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Mexican amber in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Mexican amber means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Mexican amber out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mexican amber in simple terms?

Mexican amber, also known as Chiapas Amber, is amber found in Mexico, created during the Early Miocene and middle Miocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era in southwestern North America. As with other ambers, a wide variety of taxa have been found as inclusions including insects and other arthropods, as w…

Why does Mexican amber matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mexican amber?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mexican amber.

Tags

  • Fossils of Mexico
  • Mexican Designation of Origin
  • Mexican amber
  • Mining in Mexico
  • Miocene life of North America
  • Natural history of Chiapas
  • Neogene Mexico
  • Oligocene life of North America
  • Paleogene Mexico

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