''Pauline avibella'' is a fossil

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a Class (biology), class of the crustacean, Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant taxon, extant) have been identified,Brandão, S.N.; Antoni ...

from the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

with unusually well preserved soft parts, including limbs, eyes, gills and alimentary system. The tiny shelled

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

was found in 425-million-year-old rocks in the Herefordshire Lagerstätte in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

near the Welsh Border. The rocks at the site date to the Silurian period of geological time. At the time, southern

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

was a sea area on a small continent situated in warm, southerly subtropical latitudes. The marine animals living there were covered by a fall of

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

that preserved them frozen in time.''Pauline avibella'': tiny new species discovered
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References

External links

* Myodocopida Prehistoric ostracods Silurian crustaceans Fossils of Great Britain Crustaceans described in 2013 {{paleo-crustacean-stub