Two amateur paleontologists have uncovered almost 400 well-preserved fossils from 470 million years ago in southern France. The University of Lausanne, along with the CNRS and international teams, analyzed this discovery, which provides unprecedented information on the polar ecosystems of the Ordovician period. This deposit in Montagne Noire, located in the Hérault department of France, contains over 400 fossils and is one of the world’s richest and most diverse fossil sites from the Lower Ordovician period. The fauna found in this deposit is exceptionally well-preserved and includes shelly components, as well as extremely rare soft elements such as digestive systems and cuticles. Additionally, this biota once existed close to the South Pole, which reveals the composition of Ordovician southernmost ecosystems. The Cabrières Biota, as this deposit is known, was analyzed by scientists at the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), in collaboration with the CNRS and international teams, and the results were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The new biota’s analysis revealed the presence of arthropods, cnidarians, algae, and sponges, indicating that this area served as a refuge for species that had escaped the high temperatures prevalent further north at the time due to the high biodiversity of the site.
“At this time of intense global warming, animals were indeed living in high latitude refugia, escaping extreme equatorial temperatures,” points out Farid Saleh, researcher at the University of Lausanne, and first author of the study. “The distant past gives us a glimpse of our possible near future,” adds Jonathan Antcliffe, researcher at the University of Lausanne and co-author of the study.
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For their part, Eric Monceret and Sylvie Monceret-Goujon, the amateurs who discovered the site, amateurs who discovered the site, add with enthusiasm: “We’ve been prospecting and searching for fossils since the age of twenty,” says Eric Monceret. “When we came across this amazing biota, we understood the importance of the discovery and went from amazement to excitement,” adds Sylvie Monceret-Goujon.
The commencement of a lengthy research program is signaled by this initial publication, which will entail extensive excavations and meticulous analyses of fossils. The objective is to uncover the inner and outer anatomy of the organisms using innovative methods and techniques, and to infer their phylogenetic connections and lifestyles.