New Jersey amber
The Magothy formation is reported by Wilson's 1967 paper describing Sphecomyrma freyi as having exposures in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and other unspecified islands along the New England coastline.
Palynological dating of the South Amboy Fire clay has returned a Turonian age, placing the members in the Complexiopollis – Santanacites palynostratigraphic zones.
[1] Amber was first mentioned in 1821 by naturalist Gerard Troost, who described a specimen which contained a group of fossil scale insects from an outcrop at Cape Sable, Maryland.
[1] Hollick reported in 1905 that during the height of clay mining at the turn of the 20th century, amber was found in such volumes that it was saved, and burned during the winter for heat.
[5] Edward W. Berry notes that an "amber-like" substance preserved in resin canals of fossil conifer cones that he assigned to taxon "Dammara".
[7] Wilson and Carpenter noted in 1966 that study of pollen spores and cones in the Mogathy and older Potomac Formation has suggested Metasequoia, Sequoiadendron or a related Taxodiaceae genus.
[2] Work using pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy published in 2000 linked the amber to the "Dammara conescales, fossil Pityoxylon woods and possibly Juniperus hypnoides foliage.
Plant fossils are also sparse, with conifer shoots from a Cupressaceae member, plus several undescribed flowers from a fagalean angiosperm.
Ferns, gymnosperms, mosses and over one hundred angiosperm taxa have been identified from the Raritan formation lignite fossils.
Specimens of amber show evidence of heating in fire as well, having large amounts of bubbles on outer surfaces, and a milky to chalky coloration.
[1] A study published in 2011 suggested that the majority of the resin production was initiated by the boring activity of insects such as beetles.
Trees that are being attacked by beetles and other insects will often produce defensive resin flows and the majority of New Jersey amber, about 70%, is grouped by the 2011 study as such.
