Lower Cretaceous Hailar amber: The oldest-known amber from China

Amber deposits provide a rare opportunity to look into the details of terrestrial ecosystems. This study reviews six well-documented Chinese amber deposits from the Mesozoic to Cenozoic, and reviews Cretaceous amber deposits globally. The discovery of in situ ambers from the Yimin and Zhalainuoer coal fields in the Hailar Basin extends the geographic distribution of Chinese amber outcrops into northeast China. Stratigraphic correlation and U–Pb geochronology indicate that the Hailar ambers formed in the Early Cretaceous and thus represent the oldest-known amber in China, a unique window into the paleoenvironments of the Cretaceous world. Further investigations into the amber-bearing Yimin Formation will advance understanding of Cretaceous biotas, local ecosystems, global environmental change, and the link between biology and climate. •We summarize the Chinese amber sites that have been described.•This study report two newly discovered amber sites from North China.•Our age suggests that the oldest known amber in China is ∼130 Ma.•The Hailar amber provides a unique window into the Cretaceous world.