Top Trilo Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Many things get stuck in sap and then turn into amber including leaves. If one were to sand it down, break it, cut it, etc and get the leaf out would it feel like a normal leaf or just crumble because it is 10s of millions of years old? I don't have a leaf in amber and I'm not planning on doing this just curious. And if there was a seed could it be planted and sprout a tree? “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thecosmilia Trichitoma Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Top Trilo said: And if there was a seed could it be planted and sprout a tree? No. DNA degrades over time, and its half life is 521 years. This is the same reason it would be impossible to extract DNA through amber inclusions such as in Jurassic Park. I would assume that the leaves would be similar to the amber itself, as the sap would have fully permeated the leaf before it hardened. 1 It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Trilo Posted October 4, 2020 Author Share Posted October 4, 2020 19 minutes ago, Thecosmilia Trichitoma said: No. DNA degrades over time, and its half life is 521 years. This is the same reason it would be impossible to extract DNA through amber inclusions such as in Jurassic Park. I would assume that the leaves would be similar to the amber itself, as the sap would have fully permeated the leaf before it hardened. Thank you for the response “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Trilo Posted October 5, 2020 Author Share Posted October 5, 2020 On 10/4/2020 at 4:07 PM, Thecosmilia Trichitoma said: DNA degrades over time, and its half life is 521 years. If DNA only lasts 521 years then why would people even think about extracting DNA from more recent extinct animals such as the mammoth if they've been extinct for thousands of years? “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thecosmilia Trichitoma Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 48 minutes ago, Top Trilo said: If DNA only lasts 521 years then why would people even think about extracting DNA from more recent extinct animals such as the mammoth if they've been extinct for thousands of years? The 521 year statistic is an average, and changes due to varying environmental conditions. The statistic was developed by studying extinct Moa bird bones from New Zealand. DNA degradation over time would be different in varying conditions, and may preserve better in permafrost, etc. A half life means that it would be half degraded by that point; half of the nucleotide bonds would be broken. This would continue, and one half life period later, there would only be a fourth of the bonds left. The idea is that if there is sufficient genetic material left, they could sequence it by combining it with a close relative (such as an elephant’s) genome. I am by no means an expert on this, but this is the general idea. 1 It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Weeeeellll. The oldest sequenced dna is from a horse and is 700,000 years old. The oldest found dna was discovered by a team from the u.k and denmark and is from the tooth of a rhino and is 1.7 myo. With the oldest human dna is 400,000 years old. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 There are reports of dna found in insects in amber and copal but they haven’t been reproducible results... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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