Ordovician Konservat-Lagerstatten of William Lake, Manitoba
This is an article written for one of my undergraduate earth science courses ESS261 Earth System Evolution
William Lake, Manitoba is nearly unique in the types of fossils that it holds. It represents an ecosystem that is not commonly preserved in the fossil record: coastline and shallow waters. Certain species like Lunataspis Aurora (Horseshoe Crabs) are found exclusively in the lagerstatten of William Lake. It holds fossils of organisms that are simply rare in the fossil record, such as jellyfish. Additionally, these fossils are found to be extremely well preserved. Fossils of this nature are extraordinarily rare and are instrumental in understanding the Ordovician period and the early development of life on our planet. This type of exceptional preservation is described as Konservat-Lagerstatten (translates loosely to conserved-storage). The fossils are so rare, and thus special to find, because of how infrequently soft tissue gets preserved for almost half a billion years. Overwhelmingly, the soft parts of organisms would not be fossilized, leaving jellyfish almost impossible to find in the fossil record.
