琥珀是一种经过石化作用形成的天然树脂化石, 亦是一种有机宝石。琥珀在全球范围分布较广, 尤其在欧洲的波罗的海、中美洲的多米尼加-墨西哥、亚洲的缅甸等区域有着大量的发现。全球各地琥珀中, 昆虫包裹体最为常见, 脊椎动物包裹体数量较少。但相对保存于沉积岩中的传统脊椎动物化石来说, 保存于琥珀中的脊椎动物包裹体可以额外提供生物体的软组织、原始死亡状态、生存环境等信息, 且可以保存比传统骨骼化石更直观、立体、精细的生物形态学信息, 为研究生物演化、恢复古环境、古生态和古行为学等方面提供了重要的依据。文中主要总结了来自全球各琥珀产区迄今为止发现的各种脊椎动物包裹体, 包括了非鸟恐龙、鸟类、哺乳类、爬行类、两栖类等, 以及它们背后隐藏的演化信息, 并对未来的研究方向与趋势做了初步的展望。

Amber, as an organic gem, is fossilized natural resin widely distributed around the world, especially Baltic region in Europe, Dominica-Mexico in Central America, and Myanmar in Asia. Insects are the most common inclusions in amber, while verte-brate inclusions are the rarest. However, compared to vertebrate fossils from sedimentary rocks, vertebrate inclusions trapped in amber pieces can provide additional information about the soft tissues, primitive death states, and living environment, as well as more visualized and refined 3D morphological information, all of which are important for studies in evolution, palae-oenvironmental restoration, palaeoecology and palaeoethology, which is more intuitive, stereoscopic and detailed than bone fossils. This paper reviews vertebrate inclusions from various amber biotae, including non-avian dinosaurs, aves, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, as well as their evolutionary implication, and also provides a framework of future researches.

国家自然科学基金重大项目(41790455)，美国国家地理学会项目(EC0768-15)和中国地质大学(北京)“求真学人”人才支持计划经费项目联合资助。