Trying to identify

[Donna Truhan]

I bought some Baltic Amber online, company states it is from Lithuania. The pieces are chips, average size is 1/2 inch. I was looking at them through my microscope and discovered this. The microscope is at 10x magnification, picture was taken with a Samsung phone at 3x magnification. 

[automech]

Welcome from Maryland! That is interesting! 

[R0b]

My first though is some part of a plant, looks like a cluster of thorns from a cactus but that probably doesn’t make sense.

[Donna Truhan]

3 hours ago, R0b said:

My first though is some part of a plant, looks like a cluster of thorns from a cactus but that probably doesn’t make sense.

The piece of amber is only 1/2 inch, so whatever this is, is very small. Can not see the inclusion with the naked eye. I was leaning on the side of flagellates ( is a cell or organism with 1 or more whip-like appendages called flagella, a single cell protist, eukaryotic organism is not an animal, plant or fungus). This is all I could find. Amber takes at least 40,000 years to form, so whatever this is, got caught in the resin of the tree long ago. 

[Fossildude19]

Moved to FOSSIL ID. 

[Mochaccino]

I believe this is a "stellate hair", a common plant material inclusion diagnostic of baltic amber.

 

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sternhaar_in_Baltischem_Bernstein.jpg

 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Stellate-hairs-These-inclusions-are-believed-to-be-the-indicator-of-spring-and-early_fig6_235975156

Edited July 26, 2023 by Mochaccino

[Donna Truhan]

1 hour ago, Mochaccino said:

I believe this is a "stellate hair", a common plant material inclusion diagnostic of baltic amber.

 

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sternhaar_in_Baltischem_Bernstein.jpg

 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Stellate-hairs-These-inclusions-are-believed-to-be-the-indicator-of-spring-and-early_fig6_235975156

Thanks.