NZ_Fossil_Collecta Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I have been around the Internet and I am quite confused as to whether kauri gum is fossil or not. Wikipedia says it is fossilized resin, but some sources say 20-30 thousand years (fossil) while others say most of it is around 3-4 thousand years (sub fossil) and various ages in and outside of those ages. I dug some up in a swamp and have no idea of the particular age, but any kauri tree big enough to produce lumps the size I found would have to be huge and as there is no evidence of kauris that large I know this stuff must be at least a couple thousand years old. I am confused as to what the story is with kauri gum. I'm CRAZY about amber fossils and just as CRAZY in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 The distinction is largely semantic. The rather arbitrary age for which something can be 'officially' considered a fossil is 10,000 years, and any biological trace that is "fossilized" (fundamentally altered by time), but not 10,000 years old is 'officially' a "sub-fossil". When the species is not extinct, dating becomes difficult. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediospirifer Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I think the title question is best answered by asking yourself "Do I like having it in my collection?" Fossil or subfossil resin is considered either amber or copal. Reading some of the amber threads, there's a physical test to determine between amber and copal. If the surface becomes sticky then treated with a drop of acetone, it's copal, if not, it's amber. Amber is certainly fossil, while copal is more recent. Both are or interest, although amber is more valued. Sounds like a cool find to me. Do you have pictures? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 (edited) I recall saying on another of your threads a while ago that most of the North Island of New Zealand was covered with Kauri forests at the time the Polynesians arrived (around 1250-1300 AD) to establish the Maori culture. They (and subsequent European colonists, mainly in the 18th – 19th Centuries) deforested vast swathes of the island for lumber, causing many areas to revert to swampland. The ‘Wiki’ entry is just plain wrong… leading with the words “Kauri gum is a fossilized resin…” Oh no it isn’t. It depends how old it is. Kauri gum is nothing more than a dried & hardened resin. It can be absolutely any age and is still being deposited today in some places (although not in your area). Edited March 11, 2014 by painshill Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZ_Fossil_Collecta Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Thanks for the help guys. I will post pics of the clearest bit once I have polished it up. I'm CRAZY about amber fossils and just as CRAZY in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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