Lebanese amber: a “Guinness Book of Records”

Abstract

In Lebanon, amber is found in more than 350 outcrops. It constitutes the oldest and most important amber with intensive biological inclusion. Formation of this amber corresponds to Lowermost Cretaceous, a period crucial for co-evolution between flowering plants and insects. This period witnesses the first occurrence and radiation of angiosperms. Most of the times biological inclusions in Lebanese amber represent records of the earliest representatives of modern living insect families or the youngest ones of extinct families. A list of the described taxa from Lebanese amber is given.