An article appeared in this week’s magazine Natural Ecology and Evolution Describes an incredible and gruesome fossil discovered in the United Kingdom. The site contains preserved eyes and brains of 462-million-year-old creatures hidden among still-unknown species.
The archaeological site, known as “Castle Bank,” is home to the largest collection of marine invertebrates and their organs, giving researchers a unique window into how soft-bodied life diversified in the Ordovician, according to a report released by the Museum of Wales. period (485.4 million to 443.8 million years ago).
📷 3D reconstruction of fossils from Castle Bank, UK. |Credit: Yang Tinghua / Nature Ecology & Evolution
Researchers believe they have discovered more than 170 species from the site, most of which are new to science. These species include barnacles, shrimp and an unidentified six-legged bug-like creature. The rocks are home to fossilized digestive systems of trilobites and the eyes and brains of unidentified arthropods, as well as preserved worms.
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“Every time we go back, we find something new, sometimes something very unusual,” says Joseph Potting, honorary research associate at Amkutfa Cymru. “There are many unanswered questions, and this site will continue to provide new discoveries for decades to come.”
📷 Fossil of arthropods with a dark striped gut found at a UK fossil site. |Credit: Joe Potting
Potting found the site near his home in Llandrindod Wells. The exact location is a secret to protect the area and at the request of the landowner, but the authors, who spent 100 days there, describe it as a small quarry inside a sheep farm.
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