Copal is frequently mistaken for amber, and it actually is amber - immature amber that is. Both amber and copal are derived from plant resin or sap that has hardened and fossilized in one form or the other. The age of amber usually ranges from 30-90 million years old, but copal is much, much younger; [...]

Amber is fossilized resin from trees that has turned solid as a result of millions of years of evolution. Amber used to be a sticky resin from trees that seeped out through the bark to protect them from injury and solidifies upon contact with air, or through fissures in their bark. This habit is still [...]