ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND In the last chapter we saw how the Florissant lake sampled the plants and animals from a wide range of habitats both near and far from the lake site by trapping them on the water surface. Insects in particular are also commonly entrapped in amber (fossilized tree resin) to which they are attracted and by which they become engulfed. Tree resin is a very localized deposit and, while some trees produce copious amounts of exudate, it is most likely to preserve animals and plants which are associated with trees and forests. Rapid removal of a carcass from a decaying environment is the best way of preserving it, and what could be quicker than trapping and engulfing an insect in seemingly impermeable resin? There is no initial transport of the carcass, apart from some flowage down the tree trunk and struggling by the animal itself, although later transport of the amber is usually necessary for its concentration into a sedimentary deposit.
