Many lepidopterists are unfamiliar with, and perhaps somewhat intimidated by, the terminology associated with fossil insects. For this reason, we provide here an overview and brief glossary of the types of terminology needed to discuss the lepidopteran fossil record.

A

• AMBER: Amber is fossil tree resin, which can contain preserved plant-structures, remains of insects, spiders, annelids, frogs, crustaceans, marine microfossils and other small organisms. The color of amber is often yellow, orange, or almost brown, but it can also be whitish, pale yellow, red, green, blue, or black.
  
  
• AMPHISMENOPTERA:
  
  
• ARCHAIC GROUP:

B

• BALTIC AMBER: Baltic amber is found throughout a large part of northern Europe and occurrs as far east as the Urals. Baltic amber is also known as succinite, because it contains succinic acid. The age range of Baltic amber is disputed, but it is generally believed to be between 40 and 60 mya.
  
  
• BIOEROSION: Bioerosion is erosion caused to a substrate by living organism, and it can occur through a variety of mechanisms.
  
  
• BIOSTRATIGRAPHY: Biostratigraphy is a method of assigning ages to rock layers using the fossil assemblages contained within them.
  
  
• BIOTURBATION: Bioturbation occurs when benthic flora or fauna displace and mix rock or soil sediments.
  
  
• BURMESE AMBER: Burmese amber is found in Burma - it is also known as Burmite. Burmese amber is from the Cretaceous.

C

• CALCITE: Calcite is a carbonate mineral and is a common constituent of sedimentary rocks (limestone in particular), metamorphic marble, and may also be found involcanic or mantle-derived rocks.
  
  
• CANADIAN AMBER: Canadian amber is found from deposits in the Canadian region. It is upper Cretaceous in age.
  
  
• CARBON DATING:
  
  
• CENOZOIC: The Cenozoic Era is the period of the geological timescale that covers from 65.5 million years ago to the present. Cenozoic means "new life".
  
  
• CHIAPAS AMBER: Chiapas amber is Mexican amber. It is one of the younger amber varieties, being at oldest tertiary (38 million years) in age.
  
  
• CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY:
  
  
• COMPRESSION FOSSIL: A compression fossil is the physical compression of an organism that has fossilized in sedimentary rock. Compression fossils occur most commonly in environments where fine sediment is deposited (river beaches and deltas, lagoons, ponds, etc). Fossils are generally preserved in clay or shale, including volcanic ash.
  
  
• COPAL: Copal is the intermediate stage between true resin and amber. It is not fully fossilized.
  
  
• COUNTER PART: Fossil counter-parts occur when fossilized rock or sediment is broken to expose two opposing constituents of the fossil organism.
  
  
• CRETACEOUS:The Cretaceous is a geologic period and system from circa 145.5 ± 4 to 65.5 ± 0.3 million years ago. It is often abbreviated as "K".
  
  
• CROWN GROUP:A crown group is the smallest monophyletic group (clade) to contain the last common ancestor of all extant members, and all of that ancestor's descendants.

D

• DOMINICAN AMBER: Dominican amber is found in the Dominican Republic. It is one of the younger varieties of amber, being at oldest 40 million years in age. Dominican amber is generally transparent, and contains more fossil inclusions that Baltic amber.

E

• EAST AFRICAN COPAL: East African Copal is found in East Africa and is also known as "Zanzibar Copal".
  
  
• EPOCH: An epoch refers to a unit of geological time that is a subdivision of a period. Epochs are further divided into ages.
  
  
• ERA: An era is generally shorter than an epoch. It is a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

F

• FORMATION:
  
  
• FOSSIL: A fossil is the preserved remains or traces of an animal, plant, or other organism from the past. Fossil comes from Fossus, which literally means "having been dug up" in Latin.
  
  
• FOSSIL BEDS:
  
  
• FOSSILIZATION: Fossilization is the process by which plant and animal remains are preserved and become fossils.

G

• GEOLOGIC TIME: The geological timescale represents the duration of Earth's natural history. Geologic time encompasses the physical formation and development of Earth to the present day.
  
  
• GONDWANA: Gondwana, or Gondwanaland, is a former supercontinent that included most of the landmasses in today's southern hemisphere (Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia-New Guinea, and New Zealand) as well as Arabia and the Indian subcontinent. Gondwana was formed 550–500 million years ago at the end of the Ediacaran, and into the Cambrian. It began to break up in the mid-Jurassic (about 167 million years ago).
  
  
• GUT CONTENT: Gut content is the matter found within the digestive system of an organism.
  
  
• GYPSUM: Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O.

H

I

• ICHNOFOSSIL (pl. TAXA): See Trace fossil
  
  
• IMPRESSION: An impression fossil is the cast or mold of the surface of an organism in usually fine-grained sedimentary rocks.

J

• JURASSIC: The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous (circa 200 - 145 mya).

K

• K/T BOUNDARY: The K-T boundary (for Cretaceous-Tertiary, now known as Cretaceous-Paleogene, or "K-Pg") is a signature thin band of sediment dated about 65.5 mya. It is associated with a mass extinction event, and is believed to be the result of an asteroid striking the earth's surface due to the high concentration of iridium within the K-T boundary sedimentary layers.

L

• LACUSTRINE DEPOSIT: Material deposited in lake water and later exposed either by lowering of the water level or by uplifting of the land. These sediments range in texture from sands to clays.
  
  
• LAGERSTÄTTE (pl. -EN): A Lagerstatte is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossil richness or completeness.
  
  
• LEBANESE AMBER:

M

• MASS EXTINCTION: A mass extinction represents a large decrease in the number of species and speciation events within a short period of time on the geological timescale.
  
  
• MESOZOIC: The Mesozoic is a geological time period that extended roughly 180 million years (from 250 - 65 mya) and includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous in its time frame.
  

N

• NEOGENE: The Neogene is a geological time period that covers from about 24 million years ago to present day.
  
  
• NEW JERSEY AMBER:
  

O

• OIL SHALE:
  

P

• PALEOGENE: The Paleogene is a geological time period that began 65 million years ago and ended 24 million years ago. Its time frame includes the Paleocene, the Eocene, and the Oligocene.
  
  
• PALEONTOLOGY: Paleontology is the study of prehistoric life. It deals with an organisms evolution and its interaction with other organisms and its environment.
  
  
• PANGAEA: Pangaea, was the supercontinent that is theorized to have existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration.
  
  
• PERMINERALIZATION: Permineralization occurs as the empty spaces within an organism (spaces filled with liquid or gas during life) become filled with mineral-rich groundwater and the minerals precipitate from the groundwater, thus occupying the empty spaces.
  

Q

• QUARTERNARY: The Quaternary Period is the geologic time period after the Neogene Period, spanning from about 1.8 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes the Pleistocene and the Holocene Epoch.
  

R

• REWORK:
  

S

• SIBERIAN AMBER:
  
  
• SIEVED RESIDUE:
  
  
• SILIFICATION:
  
  
• STAGE:
  
  
• STEM GROUP: A stem group is a group of organisms that fall close to but outside a particular crown group.
  

T

• TAPHONOMY: Taphonomy is the study of decaying organisms over time and how they become fossilized.
  
  
• TERTIARY: The Tertiary is a term for a geologic period 65 million to 1.8 million years ago.
  
  
• TRACE FOSSIL: A trace fossil can be an impression made on the substrate by an organism, and also includes the remains of other organic material produced by an organism - in the case of butterflies and moths, a trace fossil can be a larval leaf mine or the remains of a chrysalis.
  
  
• TRIASSIC: The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 251 to 199 million years ago.
  

U

V

W

X

Y

Z