The Orsten fossils
Microscopic crustaceans preserved in three dimensions, down to individual bristles.
- When
- Known to
- ± 3 million years
- Era
- Cambrian, Paleozoic
Swedish limestone nodules around 500 million years old contain phosphatised arthropods under two millimetres long, preserved uncrushed with limbs, mouthparts and sensory hairs intact. They include larval stages, allowing the growth of Cambrian animals to be traced individually. No other deposit preserves small arthropod anatomy at this resolution.