The Amber Forest

In "Jurassic Park", amber fossils provided the key to bringing dinosaurs back to life. Scientists in the movie extracted dinosaur blood from mosquitoes preserved for millions of years in amber - hardened tree resin - and used the blood's DNA to revive the creatures that terrified audiences around the globe. In this book, George and Roberta Poinar use amber for a similar act of revival - only they bring back an entire ecosystem. The Poinars have spent years examining the uniquely rich supply that has survived from the ancient forests of the Dominican Republic. They draw on their research here to reconstruct in words, drawings and colour photographs the ecosystem that existed on the island of Hispaniola between 15 and 45 million years ago. Samples analyzed and illustrated include a wide range of insects and plants - many now extinct - as well as such vertebrates as frogs, lizards, birds and small mammals. By examining these plants and animals and comparing them to related forms that exist today, the authors seek to shed light on the behaviour of these organisms as well as the environment and climate in which they lived and died.