For the first time, scientists have uncovered prehistoric insects trapped in amber in South America, a discovery detailed this week in Communications Earth & Environment. Until now, almost every major amber deposit from the last 130 million years had been discovered in the Northern Hemisphere. A photo released by researchers in September 2025 shows a Cretaceous-era amber specimen from Ecuador containing a Diptera Nematocera fly. Credit: Mónica Solórzano-Kraemer/APSouth America Joins The Ancient Amber MapUntil recently, the Southern Hemisphere remained largely absent from the global record of ancient amber discoveries. Dating the amber to approximately 112 million years ago, researchers place this forest in a pivotal moment of evolutionary history.