The gang discusses two papers that look at examples of soft tissue preservation during the Cambrian. The first paper is a deep dive into the sedimentology and paleoenvironment of the Emu Bay Shale. The second paper makes some interesting claims about soft tissue preservation in a marginal marine environment. Meanwhile, James needs some shortcuts, Curt is locked up, and Amanda should be blamed for everything that happened here.

Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition):

The friends look at two papers that look at animals from a long long time ago that lived in the water and were soft but were able to be found in rocks. The first paper looks at a place where there are a lot of animals found in rocks but the types of animals are different from other places around the same time. This paper looks at what the place was like at that time and they see that this was a place where a long line of water that you can drink made its way into the big water that you can not drink. The second paper made us all sad.

References:

Naimark, E. B., A. V. Sizov, and V. B. Khubanov. "Kimiltei Is a New Late Cambrian Lagerstätte with the Faunistic Complex of Arthropods (Euthycarcinoidae, Synziphosurina, and Chasmataspidida) in the Irkutsk Region." Doklady Earth Sciences. Vol. 512. No. 1. Moscow: Pleiades Publishing, 2023.

Gaines, Robert R., et al. "The Emu Bay Shale: A unique early Cambrian Lagerstätte from a tectonically active basin." Science advances 10.30 (2024): eadp2650.

The gang discusses two papers that look at two Lagerstätten (fossil localities of exceptional preservation). The first Lagerstätte is a unique complex early Triassic community found near the equator, and the second Lagerstätte is a collection of exceptional trace fossils from the Pennsylvanian. Meanwhile, James is convinced in the existence of a town that doesn’t exist, Amanda takes an unexpected break, and Curt once again needs to be redacted.

Up-Goer Fiver: (Curt Edition)

The friends talk about two papers that look at times when there was a lot of things in the rocks that we do not get in the rocks during most times, and these times can let us know that there were a lot more things were living at this time. The first paper talks about rocks during a time when usually there is not a lot going on because it was just after a time that most things died. Most rocks at this time do not show a lot of things living. These rocks are cool because they are just after the time almost everything died and they show the things that we know lived through that, and that they are all together in a way that looks like the groups of animals we see in rocks way later. The second paper looks at changes in rocks that are because animals move through or on the ground and that gets in the rocks. This area has a lot of these rocks with the bits of animals moving which lets us know a lot about what things were doing on land a long time ago.

References:

Dai, Xu, et al. "A Mesozoic fossil lagerstätte from 250.8 million years ago shows a modern-type marine ecosystem." Science 379.6632 (2023): 567-572.

Knecht, Richard J., et al. "Early Pennsylvanian Lagerstätte reveals a diverse ecosystem on a subhumid, alluvial fan." Nature Communications 15.1 (2024): 7876.