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

• Main Authors: Mark Williams, David J. Siveter, Allan C. Ashworth, Philip R. Wilby, David J. Horne, Adam R. Lewis, David R. Marchant
• Format: Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Uncategorized; ostracods; Konservat Lagerstätte; Dry Valleys; Miocene palaeoclimate; palaeolake; pyritization; soft-tissues; Boreas; Olympus; Olympus Range; Antarc*; Antarctica; Tundra
• Online Access: https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Exceptionally_preserved_lacustrine_ostracods_from_the_Middle_Miocene_of_Antarctica_implications_for_high_latitude_palaeoenvironment_at_77_south/10082582

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.