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Soft-bodied fossils from a Silurian volcaniclastic deposit

Nature volume 382, pages 248–250 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

FOSSIL deposits that preserve lightly sclerotized and soft-bodied organisms are fundamentally important to our understanding of the history of life on Earth. They provide a much more complete record of ancient communities than does the normal shelly fossil record. Conditions during the Cambrian may have favoured the preservation of soft-bodied organisms1. Burgess Shale-type2–5 and Orsten-type6 faunas are becoming increasingly known from this roughly 40-million-year-long period for which we have a growing body of data on the metazoan radiation. Soft-bodied organisms are much less well represented in the subsequent 100 million years. The discovery of a new Silurian soft-bodied biota therefore has the potential to fill an important gap in our knowledge. The relatively deep-water marine environment represented is dominated by previously undiscovered arthropods and polychaetes. Here we describe a group of soft-bodied fossils from carbonate concretions within a volcanic ash, identifying an important new source of soft-bodied taxa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    Derek E. G. Briggs

  2. Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    David J. Siveter

  3. Geological Collections, The University Museum, Parks Road, Oxford, 0X1 3PW, UK

    Derek J. Siveter

Authors
  1. Derek E. G. Briggs
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  2. David J. Siveter
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  3. Derek J. Siveter
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Briggs, D., Siveter, D. & Siveter, D. Soft-bodied fossils from a Silurian volcaniclastic deposit. Nature 382, 248–250 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/382248a0

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