Lebanese Amber
| Location | Various localities in Lebanon |
| Age | Early Cretaceous (~130–120 Ma) |
| Preservation | Amber (fossilized conifer resin) |
| Key Finds | Among the oldest insect-bearing amber; diverse early Cretaceous insects |
Lebanese amber is among the oldest amber deposits in the world that preserve significant numbers of insects. Dating to the Early Cretaceous (approximately 130-120 million years ago), these amber deposits provide a window into insect diversity at a time when flowering plants were just beginning to appear.
Geological Setting
The amber was produced by coniferous trees growing in Early Cretaceous forests in what is now Lebanon. Small pieces of amber are found in several localities, particularly near Byblos (Jbeil) and in the Hammana and Bcharreh regions. The amber was produced before the widespread diversification of angiosperms, so the resin-producing trees were gymnosperms.
Insect Inclusions
Despite the relatively small size of most Lebanese amber pieces, they contain a remarkably diverse insect fauna. Hundreds of species have been described, including early parasitoid wasps, beetles, flies, barklice, thrips, and representatives of several other orders. Many of these represent the oldest known occurrences of their respective families.
The Lebanese amber insect fauna predates the Burmese amber fauna by approximately 30 million years, providing a valuable comparison point for tracking how insect communities changed as angiosperms rose to dominance.
Significance
Lebanese amber demonstrates that amber-producing ecosystems and their associated insect faunas were already diverse by the Early Cretaceous. The age of these deposits makes them particularly important for calibrating the evolutionary timelines of many insect families. See Amber as a Time Capsule for more on amber preservation.