Solnhofen limestone: home of Archaeopteryx
Bavaria's 150-million-year-old Solnhofen lagoons preserved 12 feathered Archaeopteryx skeletons in fine limestone.
150 million years in Bavarian lagoons
Around 150 million years ago shallow salty lagoons covered southern Bavaria, where still water and algal mats trapped animals that sank into fine lime mud.
Quarrymen have split the thin 5 to 15 centimeter limestone slabs since Roman times, exposing over 1000 fossil species across 15 square kilometers of pits.
12 Archaeopteryx with feathers in stone
Twelve Archaeopteryx skeletons show crow-sized bodies about 50 centimeters long, with flight feathers 7 centimeters long, clawed wings, teeth and long 20 centimeter bony tails.
The grain is so fine that it records feather barbs, dragonflies with 15 centimeter wingspans and jellyfish, making Solnhofen the reference for 150 million year Jurassic detail.
- Age about 150 million years in Late Jurassic
- 12 Archaeopteryx skeletons with feathers
- Slabs only 5 to 15 centimeters thick
- Over 1000 species in fine limestone
- Quarried since Roman times 2000 years