Page 74 - Introduction to Paleobiology and The Fossil Record

TAPHONOMY AND THE QUALITY OF THE FOSSIL RECORD 61

Table 3.2 Some of the most famous fossil Lagerstätten (sites of exceptional preservation) in the world.
Lagerstätten Age Location
Pre-Cambrian
Doushantuo Formation 600 Ma Guizhou Province, China
Ediacara Hills 565 Ma South Australia
Cambrian
Maotianshan Shales, Chengjiang 525 Ma Yunnan Province, China
Emu Bay Shale 525 Ma South Australia
Sirius Passet 518 Ma Greenland
House Range 510 Ma Western Utah, USA
Burgess Shale 505 Ma British Columbia, Canada
“Orsten” 500 Ma Sweden
Ordovician
Soom Shale 435 Ma South Africa
Silurian
Ludlow Bonebed 420 Ma Shropshire, England
Devonian
Rhynie Chert 400 Ma Scotland
Hunsrück Slates 390 Ma Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Gilboa 380 Ma New York, USA
Gogo Formation, Canowindra 360 Ma New South Wales, Australia
Carboniferous
Mazon Creek 300 Ma Illinois, USA
Hamilton Quarry 295 Ma Kansas, USA
Triassic
Karatau 213–144 Ma Kazakhstan
Jurassic
Posidonienschiefer, Holzmaden 160 Ma Württemberg, Germany
La Voulte-sur-Rhône 160 Ma France
Solnhofen Limestone 149 Ma Bavaria, Germany
Cretaceous
Yixian Formation 125 Ma Liaoning, China
Las Hoyas 125 Ma Cuenca, Spain
Crato Formation c. 117 Ma Northeast Brazil
Xiagou Formation c. 110 Ma Gansu, China
Santana Formation c. 100 Ma Northeast Brazil
Auca Mahuevo 80 Ma Patagonia, Argentina
Eocene
Green River Formation 50 Ma Colorado/Utah/Wyoming, USA
Monte Bolca 49 Ma Italy
Messel Oil Shale 49 Ma Hessen, Germany
London Clay 54–48 Ma UK
Florissant Formation 34 Ma Colorado, USA
Oligocene-Miocene
Dominican amber 30–10 Ma Dominican Republic
Riversleigh 25–15 Ma Queensland, Australia
Miocene
Clarkia Fossil Beds 20–17 Ma Idaho, USA
Ashfall Fossil Beds 10 Ma Nebraska, USA
Pleistocene
Rancho La Brea Tar Pits 20,000 ya California, USA