They discover a vast graveyard of sea creatures with a “supernatural” aspect in the United Kingdom, described as ‘Jurassic Pompeii’ (photo).

Published:

29 July 2021 21:15 GMT

The discovery includes thousands of perfectly preserved specimens.

A vast cemetery of fossil sea creatures from millions of years ago, and see “Foreigner”, England, has been discovered in the Cotswolds region south-west of the United Kingdom.

Thousands of marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum of echinoderms, named for their sharp skin, were “perfectly preserved” at all stages of their life cycle. Limestone, According to they communicate Researchers at the Natural History Museum, London.

These ancestors of modern starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and sea lilies evolved at depths between 20 and 40 metres. Holocaust, probably, a mudslide, which buried this population earlier 167 million years, in the middle of Jurassic.

“What we have here is the same Jurassic Pompeii“, He said In statements to the BBC Neville Hollingsworth, an amateur paleontologist who discovered the place while on a walk.

During this period the earth was full dinosaur, Like herbivorous sitiosaurus and carnivorous megalosaurs. marine life was in transfer This was followed by the extinction of half of marine species in an event at the end of the Triassic period, which ended about 200 million years ago.

By the middle of the Jurassic, echinoderms were fully evolved, taking advantage of their long, slender and spiny limbs to capture food. water was warmer At what time, because this region is now closer to North Africa due to the displacement of tectonic plates, tells LiveScience.

Researchers will study thousands of specimens in the Cotswolds region and hope to deepen their understanding of the evolution of echinoderms and even make discoveries. new species.

“We will describe the new species in detail and diversity of plants and animals which we discovered on site,” said Tim Ewin, the museum’s senior curator.

Fossils also preserve traces of pollen and wood of the period, which are supposed to help clarify climate scenario of that time.

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