Museum of Amber Inclusions, established in 1998, is an integral part of Laboratory of Evolutionary Entomology and Museum of Amber Inclusions of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk. Museum originated thanks of scientist and involvement of amber-workers of Gdańsk, which were intended to return of pre-World War II tradition of collection and research on the natural history of amber. The originator of creation of the Laboratory was then head of Department, Professor Ryszard Szadziewski.

 

The main missions of the Museum are:

• gathering and storing the inclusions, i.e. fossils preserved in fossil resins

• conducting scientific research

• collecting of natural forms and varieties of ambers and other fossil resins

• conducting didactic activities

The University’s collection of inclusions is a natural history collection, preserving materials and specimens for taxonomic research. In parallel, is a fundament of knowledge on Paleogene biodiversity, palaeobiology and palaeoecology. During 20 years of the Museum’s activities, nearly 6000 amber nodules with over 14000 zooinclusions were gathered. It is a large amount, considering that almost the whole collection are gifts of amber workers, scientists, students and other persons with well-disposed attitudes towards the idea of the creation of amber inclusions collection at the University of Gdańsk. Of our collection, 95% comprises invertebrates preserved in Baltic amber. The remaining small portion is other taxonomic groups of animals, inclusions of plants, and inclusions in other fossil resins. The most precious specimens in the collection are holotypes – the specimens on which species new to science were described. University’s collection can boast over 50 descriptive types, including dipterans, hemipterans, beetles, hymenopterans, neuropterans, mayflies, dragonflies and mites.

The collection was erected for scientific purposes. Nowadays, (thanks of the support of the University of Gdansk, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland and the International Amber Association), Museum is in the disposal of well equipped technical background for amber processing, enabling the studies and research for scientists and students.

Integral and the most attractive part of the Museum is a permanent educational exhibition “Life in amber forest”. Its production was financed by the European Fund of Regional Development in the framework of Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment. Amber specimens presented in the exhibition are in majority gifts from Gdańsk’s amber workers.

Since the beginning of the Museum, close cooperation with the amber-workers environment has been established. In fact, the Presidents of the International Amber Association, Mr. Wiesław Gierłowski and Mr. Wojciech Kalandyk contributed significantly to creating a museum. The continuation of this cooperation is our participation in amber fairs Amberif. During the Amberif fairs, workers of the Museum and members of the Palaeoentomological Section of the Polish Entomological Society provide Palaeontological Gallery and serving free of charge service of inclusions recognition and identification, and also help to resolve the mysteries of amber fossils.

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