Fossil deposit is much richer than expected

Fossil deposit is much richer than expected

5 years ago
Anonymous $Dftgs0JzgE

https://phys.org/news/2019-01-fossil-deposit-richer.html

In his study, the 25-year-old investigated the question of why the bones, which are over 240 million years old, have been preserved so well here. The reason is probably a combination of fortunate circumstances: At that time the Germanic Basin was a sea, which was extremely shallow in today's Winterswijk. This is illustrated by the fossil footprints of terrestrial animals that were found not far from the reptile bones. The region probably resembled today's Wadden Sea of the North Sea coast, but with a bottom that was not sandy but covered in lime silt.

The shallow depth ensured that cadavers quickly hit the ground, where they were then covered by sediment. If dead animals float in the water for a long time and are tossed back and forth by waves and currents, the probability increases that body parts, such as tail, limbs or head, are lost.