Goethe’s amber ant

German philosopher, poet, novelist, travel writer, government official and all-around polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was also an avid natural scientist. 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. His interest in amber was for its optical properties, like a crystal or a prism, as part of his study of color theory. Now, an international team of researchers led by scientists from Friedrich Schiller University Jena have identified three insect inclusions in two of Goethe’s amber specimens. One amber piece contained the remains of two nematoceran black flies in poor condition; the second contained a worker ant in excellent condition.

The ant is a member of the extinct Ctenobethylus goepperti species that lived during the Eocene, ca. 47–34 million years ago. While they are relatively common in Baltic amber, this example is exceptionally well-preserved, giving the research team the opportunity to create a 3D reconstruction of the ant from synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography scans. This revealed two parts of the endoskeleton that had never before been seen in Cenozoic fossil ants.

Amber can preserve biological structure at unparalleled fidelity, and the Goethe collection, preserved through cultural significance rather than scientific design, has now yielded new insights through modern imaging. Our phenomic redefinition of †Ctenobethylus goepperti demonstrates the continued potential and relevance of historical collections for systematic revision and paleobiological interpretation. Through this lens, Goethe’s own epistemological commitment to observation, metamorphosis, and morphological synthesis finds renewed relevance. […]

In a poetic inversion, we now use advanced imaging tools to peer through the same amber Goethe once used to explore vision. While Goethe opposed artificial enhancements of perception in principle, he embraced tools like microscopes and prisms when they aided genuine observation. This study honors that spirit by integrating visual technology with empirical inquiry and highlights the enduring value of historical collections for modern science.

* This article was originally published here