Report: on the trail of rare fossils
25th June 2024
The CNRS has made a video report on the exceptional fossil site of Cabrières, home to one of the world’s most diverse Ordovician deposits. This site, discovered by a couple of enthusiasts, is now being studied by researchers from all over the world, including several from the LGL-TPE.
n February 2024, an international team – including Bertrand Lefebvre, Christophe Dupichaud and Antoine Vite from LGL-TPE – published an article in Nature Ecology and Evolution on an exceptional fossil site in southern France. Located at Cabrières (Hérault) in the Montagne Noire, it is one of only three sites on the planet to have so well preserved soft-bodied animals, fossilization of which is extremely rare. Dating back to the Ordovician period, 485 million years ago, the samples collected at Cabrières are a treasure trove for scientists, undermining earlier notions of a decline in biodiversity or biological extinction during this period. On the other hand, the high level of biodiversity observed confirms the hypothesis that species migrated to the southern hemisphere as a refuge from the high temperatures of the tropics.
On the trail of rare fossils: CNRS report
