You absolutely cannot imagine that in the fossil world, there is such an embarrassing scene. In Germany's "Messer Fossil Pit", archaeologists have found a pair of turtles about 47 million years old, and they were doing something shameful when they died!
However, I believe that the pair of turtles could not have imagined that after 47 million years, humans would frequently watch their fossils. If they have "spirits in heaven", they will feel a little crying and laughing in comparison.
So, how exactly did this fossil come about?
Moreover, with 2 fossil turtles next to each other, how could experts conclude that the two were mating?
The German "Messer Fossil Pit" was originally an abandoned mine, but in the early 20th century, many rare fossils were found here, such as fish, insects, birds, bats, mammals and so on.
It is said that a 47-million-year-old pregnant mare fossil was also found here, and it is speculated that it was drinking water by the river at that time, but it died because of inhaling excessive amounts of toxic volcanic gas.
In addition, archaeologists have also found a 47-million-year-old fossil of an ape skeleton here.
They believe that this ape species is likely to be the ancestor of humans and other primates, and if fully studied, it may be able to fill some "gaps" in the history of human development.
In addition to these, archaeologists have also found 9 pairs of turtle fossils here, and the "mating turtle fossils" mentioned at the beginning are also from here.
The reason why scientists judged that they were mating at that time was because in this fossil, the tail of the male turtle was sandwiched under the female turtle, and the tails of the two were aligned with each other, which was exactly in line with the state of the turtle when mating.
Of course, this is also the first time in human history that a fossil of a mate turtle in a mating state has been found.
So why are mating fossils so rare?
It turns out that mating behavior is transient, and many animals do not last too long. Moreover, if any disaster comes, these animals will immediately start to find ways to run, so it is difficult to see such a phenomenon.
Some of the "mating fossils" found before often appear on insects, which is because insects are usually recorded in amber. The formation of amber is due to the sudden fall of pine resin, wrapping them up, and these insects have no time to react before they can be preserved.
For example, in 2011, scientists found amber fossils when two flies mated in the southern part of Anju.
Since it is so rare, are these two turtles "ironclads"? Why not run when disaster strikes?
According to the analysis of experts, in general, this turtle will mate in the diving area.
At that time, there may have been volcanic activity at the bottom of the lake, so many poisonous gases erupted into the water, and the 2 turtles were poisoned, and their bodies still remained motionless, and finally they slowly slid down to the bottom of the lake.
Moreover, because this Lake Messer belongs to the inland lake, its water does not flow, so the two of them have basically no fluctuations at the bottom of the lake. In addition, there is less oxygen at the bottom of the lake, so they are not decaying.
Later, over time, layer after layer of sediment was stacked on top of their bodies, completely sealing them, which formed the fossils we see now.
Of course, although this fossil is a turtle fossil, it is not the type of turtle we see today, and according to the comparison of relevant researchers, its close relatives should be a modern pig-nosed turtle living in Australia.
As the name suggests, its nose looks very much like a pig's nose. Moreover, this pig-nosed turtle is also different from our common amphibian turtles, preferring to live in the water. Therefore, under the natural evolution of a long time, their swimming ability has been exercised relatively strongly.
In addition, in addition to the turtle fossils found in the "Messer Fossil Pit", in November 2012, many turtle fossils were also found in Shanshan County, Xinjiang, mainland China.
It is also older than the Messer fossil pit, and is said to date back to the Jurassic period, the time when the dinosaurs stayed. Therefore, people here have not only found thousands of turtle fossils, but also found many dinosaurs and other animal fossils.
The discovery was also a special surprise for archaeologists, as more turtle fossils were found here than in any other part of the world. Some studies have shown that the middle and late Jurassic period is the time period of origin of today's turtles, so they have considerable research value.
In any case, these discovered fossils will help humanity open the door to explore the ancient world. Studying them, we can discover a lot of secrets about the earth, such as how the environment changes, the direction of biological evolution, and so on. Hopefully, in the future, we can learn more about the secrets of the planet.