Amateurs find world-class fossil site from 470 million years ago

## Amateurs uncover exceptional fossil site from 470 million years ago

A pair of amateur paleontologists have recently made an extraordinary discovery—a world-class fossil site in the Montagne Noire mountain range in the south of France’s Hérault department, containing the remains of creatures that lived around 470 million years ago. The site, known as the Cabrières Biota, is home to almost 400 exceptionally well-preserved fossils, including shelly components and rare soft elements such as digestive systems and cuticles. The findings of the first analysis of the site have been published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

The Cabrières Biota provides a rich and diverse insight into a marine ecosystem that existed hundreds of millions of years ago. Intriguingly, this site was located very close to the South Pole during the Early Ordovician period, revealing the composition of the southernmost ecosystems on Earth at that time.

According to researchers, the Cabrières Biota is of worldwide significance, offering unprecedented insights into polar ecosystems in the Early Ordovician. The analysis of the site was conducted by an international team of researchers, including scientists from the University of Lausanne (UNIL) in Switzerland and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

The analysis revealed the presence of arthropods, a diverse group of animals with a hard exoskeleton, as well as cnidarians, algae, and sponges. The high biodiversity of the site indicates that it served as a refuge for species escaping the high temperatures present further north around 470 million years ago.

This significant discovery marks the beginning of a long research program involving large-scale excavations and in-depth fossil analyses, through which scientists hope to uncover more information about the anatomy of the preserved remains, determine their evolutionary relationships, and shed light on their behavior when they were alive.