The Solnhofen limestone
A stagnant Bavarian lagoon preserves jellyfish, dragonfly wings and the first bird.
- When
- Known to
- ± 2 million years
- Era
- Jurassic, Mesozoic
The Solnhofen limestone, around 150 million years old, formed in oxygen-starved lagoons behind a reef where nothing could scavenge and fine lime mud settled undisturbed. The result is preservation of astonishing delicacy, including soft tissues, and it has been quarried for lithographic printing stone since the eighteenth century. Its most famous product is Archaeopteryx.