Chinese palaeontologists have identified the world's oldest verified amber, recovered from coal seams in West Junggar, Xinjiang, pushing back the known record of plant resin production to approximately 385 million years ago — long before most animal groups had evolved to damage vegetation. The discovery, led by Luo Cihang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on July 15.

A Record Pushed Back by 65 Million Years

Prior to this find, the oldest amber confirmed through chemical analysis and isolated from rock dated to the Late Carboniferous period, around 320 million years ago — a time that also coincided with the emergence of the first herbivores. The newly dated specimens predate that benchmark by roughly 65 million years, placing resin production firmly in the Middle Devonian period, estimated between 393 million and 383 million years ago.

The amber was found in a geologically significant zone where ancient tectonic plates collided, grew, and merged — making West Junggar an unusually rich repository of prehistoric material. Hundreds of microscopic amber pieces were preserved within the coal seam, a quantity that initially made the researchers sceptical of their own findings.

Why It Matters

The discovery challenges established assumptions about why plants evolved the ability to produce resin in the first place. The conventional view held that resin production was a defensive response to herbivory — yet this amber predates the earliest known herbivores, suggesting plants may have developed the trait for other biological reasons, such as wound sealing or antimicrobial protection.

According to the paper, the find fundamentally reframes the evolutionary timeline of plant biochemistry and opens new questions about the ecological pressures acting on early land plants during the Devonian era.

The 2019 Field Expedition

When Luo Cihang and his team travelled to Xinjiang in 2019, they were not expecting to encounter record-setting material. The team had set out to examine and collect fossil samples from the region's distinctive coal seam, according to the paper. The discovery of hundreds of amber fragments — microscopic in scale but chemically intact — only became clear after rigorous laboratory analysis confirmed their age and composition.

The peer review process culminated in formal publication nearly seven years after the field expedition, underscoring the depth of verification required before the claim could be made public.

Competitive Context and Broader Significance

China has steadily expanded its footprint in palaeontological research over the past two decades, with institutions such as the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology producing a series of landmark fossil discoveries. This finding adds to a growing body of work that positions Chinese geological sites — particularly in Xinjiang and Yunnan — as globally significant windows into deep evolutionary history.

The research also highlights the scientific value of coal seams, which are not traditionally associated with amber preservation, potentially directing future prospecting efforts toward similar geological formations worldwide.

What's Next

Researchers are expected to conduct further chemical and microscopic analysis of the amber fragments to identify the plant species responsible for the resin and to better understand the environmental conditions of the Middle Devonian ecosystem in West Junggar. Whether similar deposits exist in other ancient tectonic collision zones remains an open question that could reshape the amber fossil record further.