Lizard encased in amber, copal, or something man made?!

I have a lizard encased in amber. I purchased this specimen in the mid 90’s from a prominent collector who, per the specimen labeling, discovered this in the late 50’s to early 60’s.

While it show some signs of stabilization, it does pass the common tests for amber: burn test, saline density, fluoresces appropriately for amber. It also displays crazing that is consistent with amber. This specimen does not have any signs that it was a lizard placed in a hollowed out shell of amber and then encased with epoxy.

Is there a U.S. based center that could do a deeper dive into the identification of this specimen?

You should take this to a Zoology Dept at your nearest College or University. They will be able to determine if the animal specimen is modern or paleo. The image does provide good scale count and platelet shapes, but a side profile image would help as well.

From the image, the animal looks to be very recent and not in a typical decomposition condition for animal remains captured in amber. This looks more like copal. Copal is typically less dense than amber since it does not experience the higher pressure environment. I am not sure if the saline density test can distinguish between the two types.

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a natural history museum curator might also give you an ID on the lizard. I do agree with TroyJ that the first place to start is your nearest academic institution…one caveat is that amber preserved lizards are very rare and also very rarely are as pristine as your sample. It could be modern skink family lizard…

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Whether it is natural, man-made, or a combination. that is still one cool looking piece. I would take TroyJ’s advice to have it checked out, it might be nothing more than a conversation piece. But on the other-hand, it might be the find of a lifetime. I’ve got insects and plants in mine, but a lizard WOW. Might I be so rude as to ask what the purchase price was.

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Since many observers are interested in learning how to identify a magnificent specimen like this one—including the good advice on seeing various experts—I want to interject as a side note that China has developed the technology to produce magnificent specimens that even tempted me to buy (but thankfully, my gut instinct ruled). China can produce convincing “original” art, mineral specimens, amber, and, of course, finds of a lifetime encased in amber. Everyone, please be very careful when you add to your collections!

I hope this specimen is authentic and finds a place in a magnificent collection, if not yours.

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Chinese sourced everything is suspect. They don’t play by the rules. It’s caveat emptor.

I am going to go out a limb here and suggest that, despite the sheer insanity of such a thing existing (meaning, I have never seen anything close to that in amber), it looks paleo to me, not modern. I have no clue what the age is, and of course I could be wrong, since I can’t think of any remotely similar comp to use as a proxy date, but as you state, the overall look and feel of the amber is not one of synthetic amber, it has a character that would be quite difficult to emulate. Also, the overall shape one that recurs in ancient times (it had some ritualistic meaning that is probably unknowable today), you can see the same shape in ostercon and portable stone art/artifacts, and early bronze age metals. It just feels to me, however unusual the object may be, that it is not modern. But again, that’s just a total guess and I could def be wrong.

Although very possible coincidence, here’s a few examples of roughly similar shapes in various paleo objects of various mediums-






Does it float in water? !

It does float/pass the saline water test

It was included in a significantly large purchase of minerals and lapidary/gem material. I won’t be out anything id this not the real deal

This specimen was found, per the original labeling, in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, so I think China gets a pass on this one :joy:

But you’re right, there are exquisite fakes on the market today and it’s getting quite hard to determine what’s real or not without specialized equipment