According to the Xinhua News Agency's WeChat public account: Recently, a sign of "no construction" was erected at the construction site of a highway under construction in Yunnan, and a fence area was set up.
The area where the fossils were found has been protected and construction is prohibited. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Min
It turned out that a large number of paleontological fossils were found here. At present, the relevant staff is collecting and identifying the fossils.
According to experts, the fossils that have been found at the site include the smooth Marosaurus, the stinging insect Naro, the high muscle worm, the soft tongue snail, etc., and it is preliminarily inferred that the geological age of this stratum is roughly Maroon fauna, about 500 million years ago.
Recently, fossils dating back about 500 million years were discovered at a highway construction site. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Min
This is the area where the fossils were found, and the fault is clearly visible. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Min
An on-site engineer said that earlier they didn't think the excavated rocks were any different than before, until one day a local fossil enthusiast ran over and said there were fossils in them, and they realized that they were not ordinary stones.
Trilobite fossils collected by workers at the construction site where the fossils were found. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Xinbo
After receiving the news, the local Bureau of Natural Resources, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Forestry and Grassland Bureau and other departments came to the construction site of the Puda service area to check as soon as possible.
Fossils found by experts at the site. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Min
The construction party also took the initiative to cooperate, suspended the construction in the fossil excavation area, and did a good job of protection work, prohibiting any individual from digging indiscriminately.
Trilobite fossils found by workers at the construction site where the fossils were found. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Xinbo
According to reports, most of the fossils have preserved relatively intact animal body exoskeletons, but relatively few fossils have preserved soft body structures such as eyes, intestines, legs, and limbs.
After a number of experts preliminary demonstration, the construction site found this batch of fossils has both scientific value and ornamental value, especially the animal group is more representative, with the continuous deepening of fossil collection, there may be some new discoveries, is currently according to the experts' suggestions to study the rescue protection work.
Workers inspect the construction site where the fossils were found. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Xinbo