The discovery of an extraordinary prehistoric site containing the remains of animals that once lived in a tropical sea has been made in a farmer’s fields in Gloucestershire.
Discovered under a field grazed by an ancient breed of English longhorn, the fossils, some 183 million years old, are amazingly well preserved, as if frozen in time.
Encased in three-dimensionally preserved limestone concretions, the remains of fish, ancient marine reptiles, squid, rare insects and more were discovered for the first time by a team of paleontologists.
The fossils come from an inland rock layer that was last exposed in the UK more than 100 years ago and represents a unique opportunity to collect fossils from when this part of the country was deep underwater. The newly discovered site is at Court Farm, Kings Stanley near Stroud, Gloucestershire, and was discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth, keen fossil collectors who recently discovered the mammoth remains in the nearby Cotswold Water Park.
Hollingworths explains: “These fossils come from the early Jurassic, specifically a time called the Toarcian. The clay strata found at this site near Stroud have yielded a significant number of well-preserved marine vertebrate fossils, which are comparable to the famous and excellently preserved similar fauna of the Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte from Ilminster, Somerset – a prehistoric site with an exceptionally well-preserved fossil record. Excavations at Kings Stanley over the past week have revealed a rich source of fossil material, particularly from a rare layer of rock that has not been exposed since the late 19th century.
The team of eight scientists spent four days with a digger clearing an 80-metre stretch of grassy banks, digging up several hundred limestone nodules and separating them by hand, then registering all the fossils they contained in a database before they were prepared and preserved . Around 200kg of clay from the concretions was also collected and sifted in a state-of-the-art sediment processing machine to extract microvertebrate fossils – such as small teeth and bones.
Among the best finds were several fossil fish with excellent detail on their scales, fins and even their eyeballs. One of the most impressive discoveries was a three-dimensionally preserved head of a fish belonging to a species of Jurassic fish called Pachycormus (pictured).
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Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist and visiting scientist at the University of Manchester who recently led the excavation of the Rutland ichthyosaur, which also dates to the Toarian geological age, was part of the Stroud team and said: “The site is quite remarkable, with numerous beautiful preserved fossils of ancient animals that once lived in the Jurassic Sea that covered this part of the UK during the Jurassic period. Inland sites with fossils like this are rare in the UK. The fossils we have collected will certainly form the basis of research projects for years to come.”
Nigel Larkin, a specialist paleontological conservator and visiting research fellow at the University of Reading, who was also part of the team, said: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give a paleontologist a fossil fish and he’ll tell you the species, the age of the rock, the climate when the fish lived, plus the depth of the water and salinity, and lots of other information. This site is one big outdoor classroom and lessons now include geology, paleontology, evolution and climate change.”
Field observations and preparation of the fauna recovered so far indicate that the Court Farm fossils were rapidly buried, as suggested by the absence of any encrusting animals or burrows in the sediment. The layered concretions around the skeletons formed relatively early before the compaction of the sediments, as the original layering of the sediment is preserved. These concretions prevent further compaction and compression by the overlying sediments during burial and thus preserve the fossils in three-dimensional time capsules.
Neville Hollingworth added: “Using the latest fossil preparation and imaging techniques to understand this unique fauna in more detail will create a rich repository. We will also leave a permanent reference section after the excavation is complete. Given the location and the enthusiasm of the landowner and local community to get involved, we hope to plan and develop a local STEM enrichment program as there will be opportunities for community groups and local schools to get involved in the research, particularly from the Stroud area. with a focus on targeting audiences in areas with low STEM capital.”
The landowner, Adam Knight, said: “I am delighted that following the initial work Sally and Nev did over three years ago, we now have a full-scale excavation on the farm involving a number of fossil experts from the Natural History Museum, University of Manchester, University of Reading and Open University. It was a real pleasure to host the dig and I’m excited to see the results of what was discovered.”
The key importance of the Stroud site is that it is the only current display in the UK of the same horizon that is famous for fossils produced in the 19th century. The excavation team believe the Stroud site has the potential to produce more spectacular fossil material.
The team will continue to analyze the specimens found so far with a view to publishing their research. Many of the specimens collected will be donated to the park’s local museum, Stroud, where they will form a significant part of the museum’s palaeontological collections, with some of the fossils planned for public display at both the museum and the Boho Bakery Café at Court Farm.
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