The fossils are not numerous, but some of them are spectacular, and their range gives a comprehensive picture of a local Jurassic ecosystem.Īt times, the lagoons almost dried out, exposing sticky carbonate muds that trapped insects and a few small dinosaurs. The wings of dragonflies, the imprints of stray feathers, and terrestrial plants that washed into the lagoons were all preserved. Thus, many delicate creatures avoided consumption by scavengers or being torn apart by currents. Any organism that fell, drifted, or was washed into the lagoons from the ocean or the land became buried in soft carbonate mud.
Since the lowest water was devoid of oxygen, many ordinary scavengers were absent. This included placid lagoons that had limited access to the open sea and where salinity rose high enough that the resulting brine could not support life. Paleoenvironment and preservation Ī brittle star fossil from the Solnhofen Limestoneĭuring the Late Jurassic, this area was an archipelago at the edge of the Tethys Sea. The Jura Museum situated in Eichstätt, Germany has an extensive exhibit of Jurassic fossils from the quarries of Solnhofen and surroundings, including marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and one specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx. The Solnhofen beds lie in the German state of Bavaria (Bayern), halfway between Nuremberg (Nürnberg) and Munich (München) and were originally quarried as a source of lithographic limestone. The most familiar fossils of the Solnhofen Plattenkalk include the early feathered theropod dinosaur Archaeopteryx preserved in such detail that they are among the most famous and most beautiful fossils in the world. The Solnhofen Limestone or Solnhofen Plattenkalk, formally known as the Altmühltal Formation, is a Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte that preserves a rare assemblage of fossilized organisms, including highly detailed imprints of soft bodied organisms such as sea jellies.
Solnhofen Limestone (Bavaria) Show map of Bavaria
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