Fossil Sites
Prehistoric insect fossils have been found on every continent. The pages in this section cover the most important fossil sites for prehistoric insects, describing the geological setting, the age and type of preservation, and the most significant insect finds from each location. These sites range from ancient hot-spring deposits preserving the very first insects, to Carboniferous coal swamps with giant griffinflies, to Cretaceous amber deposits capturing insects in three-dimensional detail.
| Site | Location | Age | Preservation Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhynie Chert | Scotland | Early Devonian (~410 Ma) | Silicified chert |
| Mazon Creek | Illinois, USA | Late Carboniferous (~309 Ma) | Siderite nodules |
| Commentry | France | Late Carboniferous (~305 Ma) | Compression in shale |
| Elmo Limestone | Kansas, USA | Early Permian (~290 Ma) | Limestone compression |
| Solnhofen Limestone | Germany | Late Jurassic (~150 Ma) | Fine-grained limestone |
| Karatau | Kazakhstan | Late Jurassic (~155 Ma) | Lacustrine shale |
| Yixian Formation | China | Early Cretaceous (~125 Ma) | Volcanic ash / shale |
| Lebanese Amber | Lebanon | Early Cretaceous (~130 Ma) | Amber |
| Burmese Amber | Myanmar | mid-Cretaceous (~99 Ma) | Amber |
| Green River Formation | Colorado/Wyoming, USA | Eocene (~50 Ma) | Lacustrine shale |