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 Welcome to the Amber Lab
We now offer an identification & photography of amber inclusions service for collectors and dealers at incredibly competitive rates: please email siri.press@live.co.uk with your requirements: each specimen identified by a leading amber expert will significantly increase its value as part of a collection or for resale purposes
pages last updated 27th March 2011

These web pages are being developed by Dr David Penney, an amber research scientist at the amber lab of Siri Scientific Services and Visiting Scientist in the Preziosi lab of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester, UK. For a list of mainly amber-related publications by Dave Penney CLICK HERE. At present, the primary aim of this site is to showcase nice photographs of identified fossil inclusions preserved in amber (some of which are for sale) and to create an awareness of my current research. The fossils on this site originate mainly from the Dominican Republic and Baltic regions, but some from other regions are also included.

 

Giving the keynote lecture at an amber symposium in Berlin

 

 Book: Biodiversity of Fossils in Amber from the Major World Deposits AVAILABLE NOW...click here for more info...and here to order!

If you like amber you will love this book!

 

HAVE A NEW FOSSIL SPECIES IN AMBER NAMED AFTER YOU...click on the Current research tab and scroll to the bottom of the page

NEW FOSSIL DNA EXTRACTION PROJECT COMING SOON...click on the Current research tab

New species recently discovered: spiders, lacebugs, lacewings, flies: see Current research pages for papers in preparation


Examining a large piece of copal packed with inclusions

We have some fabulous examples of rare inclusions for sale including:

Polyxenid millipedes in Dominican amber
Phasmids in Dominican amber
Mayflies in Dominican amber
Isopods in Dominican amber
Mosquito in Dominican amber
Torymid wasp in Dominican amber
Braconid wasp in Baltic amber
Various spiders in Dominican and Baltic amber
FOSSIL LIZARD in Madagascan copal

UNIQUE predatory insect larva with prey attached
PIRATE SPIDER in Baltic amber

Geophilomorph centipede in Baltic amber

...and many more to come, including MUSEUM QUALITY DISPLAY PIECES so bookmark these pages and visit frequently!

 

We also stock museum quality replica dino skulls

Click here for more info

 

 
 Lizard in African Copal    Collecting in Lebanon

 


At the entrance to a Dominican amber mine in the La Toca region of the Dominican Republic

For super rare (expensive) amber specimens click the Amber For Sale tab on the top menu bar.

For cheaper but excellent fossils (and jewellery) we are proud to recommend  AmberforEternity, (fossils added 25 Nov 2010) whose fossils have been authenticated and identified by us (they currently have 140 fossils for sale online).

 

We have thousands of fossil amber inclusions from various deposits around the world. At the amber lab, each specimen is tested for authenticity and carefully examined by an expert amber scientist in order to obtain the correct identification. At present, very few of the specimens are for sale. In addition to the rare (and expensive) amber specimens for sale (click the Amber For Sale tab above) we also sell amber collector starter packs (see below)...great for kids, school projects, gifts etc. Each pack contains five Dominican amber stones in professional display boxes (with a transparent lid) and a certificate of authenticity. A minimum of one fossil fly (Diptera), one spider (Araneae), one beetle (Coleoptera), one true bug (Hemiptera) and one ant (Hymenoptera) are included. Some specimens may contain more than one inclusion, so this is the minimum you can expect. The nature of fossilization in amber is that it often traps relatively small organisms, so please do not order these if you are expecting huge fossil insects. Most are best observed with a hand lens or under a microscope.

We also offer an identification service. Please email siri.press@live.co.uk with your enquires.

If you need particular taxonomic groups for systematics research or to produce sufficient replicates for other projects such as attempts to extract DNA this can probably be arranged. Do you need air bubbles trapped in fluid inside the amber (enhydros - see below) to study ancient atmospheres? Please contact siri.press@live.co.uk with your specific requirements. Please enjoy the photos on the associated pages.

 

Enhydro (ancient air bubble trapped inside water droplet in the amber) in Dominican amber. You can actually see the air bubble floating around! We have several specimens available, including a sufficient number of specimens as replicates for scientific study. These are for sale at £100 each.


Amber Collector Starter Pack
(note this includes only five amber pieces (as described above) in display boxes with certificates of authenticity. The photo is to give an idea of the stones available. The price is only £55.00, which includes postage and packing within the UK. Save money by purchasing our new amber booklet at the discount price of £2.50 (normally £3.00) and with no additional postage when ordered with any amber specimen(s). Please email siri.press@live.co.uk for this option.
  

Single specimens are also available and are priced depending on the size of the stone and the quality/size/rarity of the fossil inclusion. Again, these make great gifts for kids to show off at school...their very own piece of Jurassic Park history!