Patrick Pester
A new study has revealed that an ‘extraordinary’ hidden fossil site in Wales contains the preserved eyes and brains of creatures that lived 462 million years ago, hidden among a mass of as yet unknown species.
Last year, strange-looking, ‘blackberry snout’ fossils were documented at the excavation site called ‘Castle Bank’. The new research paper, published May 1 in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, provides detailed information on the entire fossil bed.
Home to many soft-bodied sea creatures and their organs that are virtually unpreserved in the fossil record, the region resembles the world-renowned Cambrian deposits of the Burgess Shale in Canada and the Qingjiang biota in China. On the other hand, as quoted in a statement by ‘Amgueddfa Cymru’ (Museum of Wales), the Castle Bank rocks are 50 million years younger than the others and have soft-bodied structures during the Ordovician Period (485.4 million to 443.8 million years ago), according to researchers. It offers a unique opportunity to look at how living things diversify.
HUNDREDS OF SPECIES DISCOVERED
Researchers think they have discovered more than 170 species in the region, many of which are new to science. They contain what appear to be late examples of Cambrian groups, including the udder-nosed opabiniids, evolution’s strangest marvels, and mussels, shrimp, an unidentified six-legged insect-like creature, and the earliest examples of later evolved animals. The rocks are also home to the fossilized digestive systems of trilobites and the eyes and brain of an unidentified arthropod, as well as preserved worms and sponges.
“Every time we come back, we find something new, and sometimes it’s something really extraordinary,” said Joseph Botting, an independent researcher and honorary research fellow at the University of Wales. “There are many unanswered questions and this site will continue to host new discoveries for decades.”
DISCOVERED DURING THE COVID CLOSURE
Botting and study co-author Lucy Muir discovered the site around their home in Llandrindod Wells during the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. The exact location of the excavation site is hidden due to the protection of the site and the owner’s request; however, the study authors describe this area as a small quarry within a sheep pasture.
The two explored the site for over 100 days, carefully unearthing fossils as the landlord’s sheep watched their work. “The sheep seemed to find us interesting rather than disturbing,” the article authors write in a summary report attached to the research.
Botting and Muir are independent researchers and do not serve as academics; so they raised funds to purchase a microscope, most of which was no more than 3 millimeters in diameter, to study the fossils in greater detail. They then worked with an international peer group to complete the newly published research.
The ecosystem that remains preserved at Castle Bank may be a breeding ground for animals, with only young specimens of the most common trilobite species ‘Ogyginus corndensis’ previously found in the area. On the other hand, the authors of the article state that the small size of the fossils is generally “remarkable” and that this may be a characteristic of the animal community living in this area.
The original article was taken from the Live Science website. (Translated by Tarkan Tufan)
2023-05-04 21:52:03
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