There is a treasure trove of 183 million-year-old fossils.
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.
"Big Mouth Billy Bass was the closest approximation we could think of," said Neville Hollingworth, who discovered the site with his wife, Sally, a fossil preparator.
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. The scales, skin, spine, and eyeball are still there.
The Hollingworths contacted Think See 3D to create an interactive 3D image of the fish to help bring it to life and to allow researchers to study it more closely.
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 that lived 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 compare these fossils with other Toarcian age fossil sites, not only in the UK 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.
There are related content.
The epic fossil was left behind after the murder of the dinosaur squid.
The fish was found by accident from a lung.
Fossils of non-dinosaurs were unearthed in 2021.
The original article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.
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