Very Old Fossils From Western Europe

[Nandomas]

Oldest Fossils Found in Cordillera Bética Mountain Range

Spanish researchers have found fossils of Ordovician conodonts dating to between 446 and 444 million years ago for the first time in the western Mediterranean. The discovery of these very primitive marine vertebrates has helped scientists to reconstruct the palaeogeography of the Cordillera Bética mountain range. Their study shows that the mountain system in the south of the Iberian Peninsula was located alongside the Alps at that time.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101213071113.htm

Imageb Credit: Rodríguez-Cañero

[pleecan]

interesting article... it means that Conodonts remains should also be present in ordovician in N. America also ie present on Ordovician hash plates from Ontario... some thing to look for this winter......

[MOROPUS]

I`ve already look at this article...

This reveals a long time mystery.

Much of the Betic range is label as "Paleozoic", without other info, due to the fact that most of it is build up with cristalline and microcristalline metamorphic rocks (by the way, very rich on rare minerals...).Very little was known about the exact age of the mountains.

Only a part of it (the western one) is well-known because of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ammos.

It`s incredible! It`s only an hour by car from my holiday apartment! Another place to take some pics! (actually, as far as my memory remembers, it is a Natural Park, so no collecting is allow!)