Modern Antarctica is a frozen desert, largely devoid of life. But this wasn't always the case. Ninety million years ago, it supported lush forests.

The discovery of amber in Antarctica has been reported for the first time, as detailed in a recent study published in Antarctic Science. Dr. Johann Klages from the University of Bremen, alongside a team of researchers,

Around 90 million years ago, climatic conditions in Antarctica were suitable for resin-producing trees, allowing them to grow and survive.

The amber, excavated from Pine Island Bay in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, provides a unique snapshot of life in prehistoric Antarctica.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide was high in the Cretaceous, making the world in general a warmer place. Moreover, the lack of an Antarctic Circumpolar Current meant the climatic difference was much greater on the southern continent, such that great forests grew there, inhabited by both dinosaurs and mammals .

Until recently, a gap existed in the world map of amber discoveries: the Antarctic continent. But that gap has finally been closed, thanks to a team led by Dr. Johann P. Klages from the Alfred Wegener Institute,

Today, Antarctica is a huge frozen continent, though it was once temperate enough to be covered in swampy forests. Now, a team of scientists has discovered fossilized tree resin—amber—on the continent for the first time.

This southernmost discovery of amber offers new insights into Cretaceous forests near the South Pole, AWI said in a press release. The amber was discovered in a sediment core retr