The treasure trove of 183 million-year-old fossils was found on a farm in England. The fossils of fish, giant marine reptiles, squids, insects and other ancient animals were found under the hooves of cattle on the outskirts of the Cotswolds.
A three-dimensionally preserved fish head was one of the highlights of the more than 180 fossils that were found. Soft tissues, including scales and an eye, were found in the fossil, which was embedded in a hardened limestone nodule. The 3D pose of the specimen's head and body made it impossible for the researchers to compare it to previous finds.
"The closest analogue we could think of was Big Mouth Billy Bass," said Neville Hollingworth, a field geologist with the University ofBirmingham who discovered the site with his wife, Sally, a fossil preparator and the dig's coordinators. The eyeball and sockets were in good condition. Fossils are usually lying flat. It looks like the fish is leaping out of the rock because it was preserved in more than oneDIMENSION.
Sally Hollingworth said she hadn't seen anything like it before. You could see the scales, skin, and spine.
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Think See3D, a company that creates digital 3D models of fossils, was contacted by the Hollingworths to create an interactive 3D image of the fish to bring it to life.
There is an enormous graveyard of alien-like sea creatures.
Behind the cowshed is where most of the fossils were found. Many of the English longhorn cattle on the farm kept a close watch on the excavation.
Sally Hollingworth told Live Science that it was unnerving to dig when you were being watched.
At one time, this region of the United Kingdom was completely submerged by a shallow, tropical sea, which may have aided the preservation of the fossils.
A member of the excavation group said that when the fish died, they sank to the bottom of the sea. The minerals from the surrounding seabed replaced the original structures of the bones and teeth. The site shows that there wasn't much to no scavenger, so they must've been quickly buried. They were protected immediately after hitting the sea.
The eight person team used a digger to uncover a small slice of geological time across the farm's grassy banks. Belemnites, ammonites, and bi were some of the diverse specimen dated to the Toarcian age.
"It's important that we can compare these fossils with other Toarcian age fossil sites, not only in the U.K. but also across Europe and possibly sites in America." The strawberry bank lagersttte is an example of a such example.
The group plans to publish the findings from the study. A selection of the fossils will be displayed at the Museum in the Park.
It was originally published on Live Science
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