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

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 three-dimensionally fossilized animal soft tissues from the continent. The os...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Main Authors: Williams, M, Siveter, D, Ashworth, A, Wilby, P, Horne, D, Lewis, A, Marchant, DR
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Boreas
Olympus
Olympus Range
Antarc*
Antarctica
Tundra
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0396
https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:72a0c227-3bb9-41f7-8657-20af6fcacf59
Description
Summary: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 three-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 (greater than 77 degrees south) lake setting (Palaeolake Boreas) viable for benthic animal colonization prior to 14 Myr ago. Their presence supports the notion of warmer, tundra-like environmental conditions persisting in the Dry Valleys until the Middle Miocene.

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