South African Lagerstätte reveals middle Permian Gondwanan lakeshore ecosystem in exquisite detail

Rosemary Prevec , André Nel (1) , Michael Day , Robert Muir , Aviwe Matiwane , Abigail Kirkaldy , Sydney Moyo , Arnold Staniczek , Bárbara Cariglino , Zolile Maseko , Nokuthula Kom , Bruce Rubidge , Romain Garrouste , Alexandra Holland , Helen Barber-James

1 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité

Abstract Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273–259 million years ago) are poorly understood. In South Africa, the vertebrate fossil record is well documented for this time interval, but the plants and insects are virtually unknown, and are rare globally. This scarcity of data has hampered studies of the evolution and diversification of life, and has precluded detailed reconstructions and analyses of ecosystems of this critical period in Earth’s history. Here we introduce a new locality in the southern Karoo Basin that is producing exceptionally well-preserved and abundant fossils of novel freshwater and terrestrial insects, arachnids, and plants. Within a robust regional geochronological, geological and biostratigraphic context, this Konservat- and Konzentrat-Lagerstätte offers a unique opportunity for the study and reconstruction of a southern Gondwanan deltaic ecosystem that thrived 266–268 million years ago, and will serve as a high-resolution ecological baseline towards a better understanding of Permian extinction events.Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273–259 million years ago) are poorly understood. In South Africa, the vertebrate fossil record is well documented for this time interval, but the plants and insects are virtually unknown, and are rare globally. This scarcity of data has hampered studies of the evolution and diversification of life, and has precluded detailed reconstructions and analyses of ecosystems of this critical period in Earth’s history. Here we introduce a new locality in the southern Karoo Basin that is producing exceptionally well-preserved and abundant fossils of novel freshwater and terrestrial insects, arachnids, and plants. Within a robust regional geochronological, geological and biostratigraphic context, this Konservat- and Konzentrat-Lagerstätte offers a unique opportunity for the study and reconstruction of a southern Gondwanan deltaic ecosystem that thrived 266–268 million years ago, and will serve as a high-resolution ecological baseline towards a better understanding of Permian extinction events.

Domains: Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy

Rosemary Prevec, André Nel, Michael Day, Robert Muir, Aviwe Matiwane, et al.. South African Lagerstätte reveals middle Permian Gondwanan lakeshore ecosystem in exquisite detail. Communications Biology, 2022, 5 (1154), ⟨10.1038/s42003-022-04132-y⟩. ⟨mnhn-04038897⟩