Sub/fossil resin research in the 21st Century: trends and perspectives

Within the last few decades technological advances such as the Internet and new imaging techniques (e.g., computed tomography and synchrotron scanning) have revolutionized how we do research in the 21st century. High-quality publications resulting from international, interdisciplinary collaborations are now commonplace, though there is still much scope for improvement in certain branches of amber palaeobiology. Here, I review what I consider to be some of the most important trends in amber research over the past decade or so and highlight areas deserving of more focussed input. Topics covered include summaries of our current knowledge of palaeodiversity of the major world deposits, important new Cenozoic and Mesozoic amber deposits, palaeo-taxonomy (and over-interpretation of fossil inclusions), advances in imaging technologies, quantitative palaeoecology, and climate change and biogeography. The potential scientific value of inclusions in copal, a source of sub-fossils that is often considered unimportant due to its relatively young age, is also briefly discussed.