Fossil Reptile Skin and Vertebral Column in Amber - Myanmar

This is an extremely rare association of reptile skin and a vertebral column in amber from Myanmar, formerly Burma. This amber is Late Cretaceous in age, so this reptile was living at the same time as the dinosaurs. The combination of vertebrae and skin indicates that the amber may have contained a near complete reptile within.

The reptile is likely of the Lacerotoidea family. This family includes monitors and the Gila Monster. There have been quite a few discoveries of small reptile (geckos and lizards) fossils in Burmese amber. A paper can be found below.

Mid-Cretaceous amber fossils illuminate the past diversity of tropical lizards

Physical photos of the specimen are included with your order and we will also email you high resolution digital copies.

Please note that insect inclusions in amber such as this one are typically very small and you will need magnification to make out much detail. It is very rare to get larger insects trapped in amber, as they are typically powerful enough to struggle free.

Note: While the Baltic Amber we have sold comes with stunning macro photography in both physical and digital forms this is NOT available for this specimen. The Baltic amber photography was done by our supplier and required hand-polishing the amber surface very close to the inclusion, shooting up to a dozen photos and combining them using photo stacking software. This is not something we can do ourselves with this Burmese amber.

Note #2: There is a lot of false information on the Internet that amber is illegal to export from Myanmar (Burma). Under their laws fossils may not be exported from the country, but under Myanmar Mines Law, amber (including amber with insect inclusions) is classified as a gemstone, and may be exported. Amber has been a large export from the region for centuries, and its mining and sale has been a significant part of the local economy with an estimated 10 tons exported annually.

Burmese amber, or Burmite, is collected from small mines in the Hukawng Valley and is an important source of Cretaceous plant and animal fossils. Geologists suspect that the area was once part of the supercontinent Gondwana.

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