New major discovery for Professor Abderazzak El Albani. The geologist from the Poitiers Institute of Chemistry of Environments and Materials (IC2MP) and his international team of researchers have just revealed the existence of two new species of trilobites dating back 515 million years. Work which also made the cover of the latest issue of the magazine Sciencepublished Friday June 28, 2024.
Preserved by volcanic ash deposits
Unearthed in Aït Youb in southwestern Morocco, these fossil invertebrates are among the best preserved in the world. “They were buried by fiery clouds during a volcanic eruption.”specifies the University of Poitiers and the CNRS, in a press release.
And “the biological tissues were consumed by the intense heat”the molds of these living organisms have remained intact. Like the remains of Pompeii, a city buried in 79 after the eruption of Vesuvius.
“This discovery demonstrates the essential role of volcanic ash deposits for the preservation of fossils and the crucial importance of exploring underwater volcanic environments”confide Abderazzak El Albani.
“New windows on our planet’s past”
The scientists were able to study these molds in 3D using an imaging technique, X-ray microtomography, to avoid any degradation. This work, carried out by Arnaud Mazurier, research engineer at the University of Poitiers, continued with the digital reconstruction of the missing bodies, providing “unprecedented insight into the anatomical organization of trilobites”. A research which could, according to Professor El Albani, open “new windows on our planet’s past”.
