A recent study in the journal PLOS ONE delves into the significant impact of great fossil sites on our understanding of evolutionary relationships between fossil groups, known as the lagerstätten effect. For the first time, the study has quantified the influence of these sites on our comprehension of evolutionary history.
While the Late Cretaceous Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia is renowned for the discovery of Velociraptor, its rich fossil record of lizards may have an even greater impact on our understanding of ancient and modern life.
Dr. Hank Woolley, the lead author and NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dinosaur Institute, highlighted the exceptional diversity and completeness of three-dimensionally-preserved lizard skeletons found in these deposits. This remarkable fossil signal of biodiversity provides valuable insights into the evolutionary history of squamates.
The abundance of complete skeletons facilitates the tracing of relationships through time by enabling easier comparison of similarities and differences. The preservation of numerous traits in these skeletons translates into valuable phylogenetic data used to construct the tree of life.
According to Woolley, the exceptional preservation of hundreds of species from a specific time and place does not necessarily provide a comprehensive global signal, but rather puts its thumb on the scale.
2024-02-14 18:00:04
Source from phys.org