Exceptionally preserved lacustrine ostracods from the Middle Miocene of Antarctica: implications for high latitude palaeoenvironment at 77° south

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Main Authors: Williams, Mark, Siveter, David J., Ashworth, Allan C., Wilby, Philip R., Horne, David J., Lewis, Adam R., Marchant, David R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2010
• Subjects: ostracods; Konservat Lagerstätte; Dry Valleys; Miocene palaeoclimate; palaeolake; pyritization; soft-tissues; Boreas; Olympus; Olympus Range; Antarc*; Antarctica; Tundra
• Online Access: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1650/2449; http://hdl.handle.net/2381/8081; https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0396

A newly discovered Konservat-Lagerstätte from the Middle Miocene of the western Olympus Range, Dry Valleys, Antarctica, yields cypridoidean ostracods complete with preserved body and appendages. This is the first record of 3-dimensionally fossilized animal soft tissues from the continent. The ostracods are preserved in goethite, secondary after pyrite, representing a novel mode of exceptional preservation. They signal a high latitude (>77°S) lake setting (Palaeolake Boreas) viable for benthic animal colonisation prior to 14 Ma. Their presence supports the notion of warmer, tundra-like environmental conditions persisting in the Dry Valleys until the Middle Miocene.