Paleozoic’s Pompeii

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For almost 270 million years, one of the Earth’s most resilient life forms was the trilobite – part of a large group of multi-legged invertebrates found in the seas.

With an estimated 22,000 species, big and small, trilobites left their mark on our planet – making for centuries of paleontological research. But some parts of their anatomy have remained a mystery.

Enter a group of geologists who explored a region in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains that once was a shallow seabed surrounded by active volcanoes. After one sudden eruption some 510 million years ago, the ash captured all living things there – preserving them in pristine detail.

“Volcanic ash is so fine-grained, like talcum powder, that it can mold the tiniest anatomical features on the surface of these animals,” paleontologist and study co-author John Paterson told the New York Times.

One could call it the Paleozoic’s Pompeii.

Franco-Moroccan geologist Abderrazak El Albani and his team analyzed the newly found fossils, rendering 3D models of the animals, and published their results in the journal Science.

Their findings addressed numerous gray areas in scientists’ knowledge of trilobites.

For example, El Albani and his colleagues could now see how these trilobites ate thanks to a slit-like mouth and a labrum – a “kind of fleshy lip,” according to Paterson.

They also found evidence of antennae and bristles on the trilobites’ walking legs, elements that weren’t as well preserved in other fossils.

“I’ve been studying trilobites for nearly 40 years, but I never felt like I was looking at live animals as much as I have with these ones,” researcher Greg Edgecombe told BBC Wildlife.

Other Pompeii-type situations, “given their exceptional potential for trapping and preserving biological remains,” could pave the way for further discoveries and a better understanding of the evolution of life on Earth, El Albani said.