New Finds From Germany's Messel Pit
Today, anyone who looks into the Messel Pit, about 20 kilometres southeast of Frankfurt, Germany, will see scattered groups of trees, bushes and grasses.
Underlying the vegetation, however, are richly fossiliferous shales.
Some astonishingly well-preserved fossil finds were recently recovered by scientists from these deposits, laid down in the former volcanic lake, and add exotic colour and diversity to the Eocene “Messel world” of 47 million years ago. Some representative finds of animals discovered in 2007 and 2008 were recently exhibited.
Not only the world-famous primeval horse browsed at the shores of the lake in the warm, wet climate prevailing at that time (average annual temperature, 25°C).
Around Lake Messel, which emerged in a volcanic crater and was surrounded back then by dense primeval forest, lived early ungulates and rodents; the ancestors of today’s birds flew over the cloudy water; insects buzzed through the air; and cold-blooded reptiles basked lazily in the sun. 47 million years ago, Messel was located at the present latitude of Siciliy.
In the annual digs that the Senckenberg Research Institute carries out in the Messel Pit, an average of 3,000 fossil remains are recovered from the shale in this UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. Some particularly well-preserved fossils discovered in 2007 and 2008 were recently exhibited.
Bulldog of the lizard world
A reptile find about 80 centimetres long has been identified as an early representative of the beaded lizards and Gila monsters (Helodermatidae). This family, known to have existed since the Cretaceous, is found today in the southwest of the USA and Central America.
These lizards are renowned not only for a curious combination of strength, tenacity and deliberateness but also for being venomous. Although it is primitive in many ways, the skeleton found in Messel already shows incipient canals in its teeth which lead us to believe that this species was already producing venom.
“The warm climate of the Eocene may have allowed this lineage to migrate along high-latitude routes to Europe. From studies of the limbs and chemical analyses of the bones, we hope to learn more about evolutionary rates and the biology of primitive members of this unique group,” explains Dr. Krister Smith. This young reptile expert from the USA developed a special interest in the pink-spotted descendants of these primeval-looking animals whilst still a schoolboy.
"Rodent in a fur coat, Masillamys. (Credit: Copyright Senckenberg, Frankfurt (Germany))"
Source: Senckenberg
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