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Top: Science: Earth_Sciences: Paleontology: Famous_Localities
Some fossil localities have become famous because of their exceptional fossil preservation. Sites dealing with these paleontological treasures can be found in this category.
The famous Burgess Shale of British Columbia contains an exceptionally well preserved Cambrian fauna. This group of animals, which are preserved primarily as carbon films, is one of the earliest nearly complete record of the age of complex life, and opens a window into an ecosystem that died out hundreds of millions of years ago.
This category contains subcategories for famous fossil collecting localities in Europe.
The Green River Formation outcrops in western Colorado, eastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. The unit was deposited during the Eocene, and contains fossil fish, insects, and especially beautifully preserved plant fossils.
Rancho La Brea is located in downtown Los Angeles, and has yielded an amazing assemblage of Pleistocene (Ice Age) fossil mammals.
Lyme Regis is located in Dorset, England. The cliffs at Lyme Regis are composed of sediment deposited during the Jurassic, and have yielded marine fossils such as ammonoids and spectacular marine reptiles. The fossils of Lyme Regis fired the imagination of some of the earliest palaeontologists, and the site continues to amaze and delight fossil collectors. This location, with the surrounding coast of Devon and Dorset, has recently been accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This distinction is expected to greatly increase the number of visitors with a geological interest to the area.
Mazon Creek in Illinois contains concretions which, when cracked open, frequently contain beautifully preserved fossils. Both terrestrial and marine fossils have been recovered from Mazon Creek, including the enigmatic "Tully Monster" which is also the state fossil of Illinois. The deposit is Pennsylvanian in age.
This category is for websites dealing with the world-famous Messel Oil Shale.
This category is for websites dealing with the world-famous Morrison Formation of western North America.
This category contains subcategories for famous fossil collecting localities in North America.
This category is for websites dealing with the world-famous Petrified Forest of Arizona.
This category is for websites dealing with the world-famous Rhynie Chert.
The Solnhofen Limestone is a lithographic limestone quarried in Germany because of its fine grained characteristics. The quarriers frequently come across fossils preserved in exquisite detail in this fine grain matrix. Based on the odd behavior recorded by some marine organisms (e.g., horseshoe crabs running around in circles and then dying, preserving both the trackway and the body fossil), and the level of preservation, it has been suggested that the Solnhofen was deposited in an anoxic environment. The deposit is Jurassic in age.Such famous taxa as _Archaeopteryx_ were first described from the Solnhofen.
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