Goethe's amber ant

"He wrote treatises on botany, rediscovered the human premaxillary bone by examining an elephant skull, studied light and color theory and played a central role in developing morphology as a scientific discipline. He amassed huge collections of minerals, animal specimens and other natural objects. At the time of his death in 1832, he left behind the largest private collection of geological and mineralogical specimens in Europe, more than 18,000 objects."

"Goethe's entire collection is now housed in the Goethe-Nationalmuseum in Weimar, and many of the specimens are still in the same boxes with the same labels handwritten by the philosopher. He had about 40 pieces of amber in his collection, classified as a combustible fossil resin. Goethe never made any reference to ancient insects in his or any other amber specimens."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe combined literary pursuits with active natural science work, producing botanical treatises, studies of light and color, and contributions to morphology. He amassed more than 18,000 geological and mineralogical specimens now housed in the Goethe-Nationalmuseum in Weimar, many retaining original handwritten labels. About 40 amber pieces were part of the collection, regarded for optical properties rather than paleobiological content. An international research team identified three insect inclusions in two of Goethe's amber specimens: two nematoceran black flies in poor condition and an exceptionally preserved worker ant of the extinct Ctenobethylus goepperti from the Eocene, enabling 3D reconstruction via synchrotron micro-CT.

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