Great Canadian Lagerstatten: Windows into Vanished Worlds
Great Canadian Lagerstatten: Windows into Vanished Worlds
Just as the geological evolution of an area may rest upon a few key outcrops, our understanding of
past living worlds and the evolution of life rests upon small numbers of remarkable sites. These
clearest windows into vanished worlds are called Lagerstatten. The word is of German
origin, from Lager and Statte, meaning "places of storage". These are indeed the places where much
of what we know or infer is stored for eternity. Lagerstatten are defined by exceptional preservation,
in many cases including soft-bodied organisms or soft body parts not normally amenable to
retention in the fossil record. In some cases, they may also include large numbers of organisms that
were preserved through catastrophic events such as volcanic eruptions or floods. Such
sites can provide census populations that are snapshots of ancient ecosystems.Canada contains some well-known examples of Lagerstatten, including the Burgess Shale in BC and Mistaken Point at the other end of the country. There are many other sites across Canada, from all geological periods. This series of thematic papers summarizes these unique places, and the clues that they give us about the history of life on Earth.
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