One of the most significant fossil deposits in the world may be found at
Wales' new "Castle Bank" location.
According to a recent research, a "extraordinary" hidden fossil location in Wales holds the preserved eyes and brains of 462 million-year-old animals buried among a collection of unidentified species.
A new study that was published on May 1 in the journal
Nature Ecology and Evolution details the whole fossil deposit at the location known as "Castle
Bank," which was the site of bizarre "bramble snout" fossils that were
discovered there last year.
The location recalls the world-famous Cambrian deposits of the Burgess
Shale in Canada and Qingjiang biota in China because it is home to a wide
variety of soft-bodied marine organisms and their organs, which are seldom
ever preserved in the fossil record. According to a statement made by
Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, the rocks of Castle Bank are 50 million
years younger and provide scholars a special window into how soft-bodied
life diversified in the Ordovician Period (485.4 million to 443.8 million
years ago).
More than 170 species, the majority of which are novel to science, are
thought to have been retrieved by researchers from the location. These
contain early evidence of creatures that developed later, such as barnacles,
shrimp, and an unnamed six-legged insect-like species, as well as what
appear to be late examples of Cambrian groups, including the most bizarre
wonders of evolution, the nozzle-nosed opabiniids. The trilobite digestive
systems and the eyes and brain of an unidentified arthropod, together with
preserved worms and sponges, may also be found in the rocks.
In the announcement,
Joseph Botting, an independent researcher and honorary research fellow at Amgueddfa
Cymru, stated, "Every time we go back, we find something new, and sometimes
it's something truly extraordinary." There are many unresolved questions,
and this site will continue to provide fresh findings for many years to
come.
During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Botting and co-author
Lucy Muir found the location close to their Llandrindod Wells home. For the
sake of the site's preservation and at the landowner's request, the precise
location is kept a secret, although according to the writers, it is a tiny
quarry located within a sheep field.
The two meticulously excavated the fossils there for more than 100 days as
the landowner's sheep kept an eye on them. In a brief summary that was
included with the study, the scientists stated that the sheep "appears to
have found us interesting, rather than disruptive."
According to a statement from the researchers, several of the fossils were
at most 0.1 inch (3 millimeters) long. Because Botting and Muir are
freelance researchers and not employed as academics, they raised money
through crowdfunding to purchase a microscope to investigate the fossils in
greater detail. To finish the recently published research, they later
collaborated with a group of colleagues from around the world.
The sole juvenile specimens of the most widespread trilobite species,
Ogyginus corndensis, were discovered at the site, suggesting that the
environment maintained at Castle Bank may have acted as a nursery for young
animals. The authors of the study added that the tiny size of the fossils
was "striking" overall and may just be a characteristic of the local animal
population.
