Amber collection
Fossil cockroach nymph in amber (Photo: Marie Hörnig)
Curator
Collection managers
Anders Illum, Jan Pedersen & Sree Gayathree Selvantharan
About the collection
The amber collection comprises some 10,000 pieces, all from Baltic amber.
Some of it has been collected on the West Coast of Jutland, but large parts derive from the Baltic coastline of Russia and Latvia. Parts of the collection have been obtained as purchases or donations. Further additions come from the old Geological Museum of Copenhagen (‘Mineralogisk Museum’), Royal Cabinet of Curiosities ('Kunstkammer') and 'Danekræ' fossil trove amber collections.
The collection has been partly databased and repackaged to prevent degradation by contact with oxygen. The collection is in increasing demand as recently developed advanced dating methods put a premium on well-preserved fossils that can be used to calibrate phylogenies.
Amber collection in numbers
- Estimated number of specimens/collections: 10,000
- Types: 130
- Digitally available specimens: 4,000
- Percentage digitized: 40%
Strengths
- Amber ants revised by G.M. Dlussky
- Amber aphids revised by O. Heie
- Amber spiders revised by J. Wunderlich
Important subcollections/specimens
- 'Danekræ' (fossil trove)
- 'Kunstkammerrav' (Royal Cabinet of Curiosities)
Fossil cockroach nymph in amber (Photo: Marie Hörnig)