English subtitles for clip: File:Wie entstehen Fossilien (CC by 4.0).webm

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How are fossils actually formed?

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And why are they formed
in some places and not in others?

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In the Solnhofen region in Bavaria,

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there is an outstanding
fossil site worldwide.

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Many of the fossils discovered
there are around 150 million years old.

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At that time almost all of Central Europe
was covered by water, the "Jurassic Sea".

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The region around Solnhofen
became a unique site for fossils

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especially due to
the special conditions on the seabed.

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Dead fish were quickly covered
with fine lime mud.

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In this salty, hostile,
without oxygen environment

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there were hardly any scavengers
or bacteria that decomposed the body.

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Over time, thick layers of sediment
deposited on it,

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but water could still seep through them.

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The soft and hard parts of the organism

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reacted with substances
dissolved in the water.

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In the course of time,
almost all organic material

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was decomposed and converted
into inorganic compounds.

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These are usually minerals
that crystallize.

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With an increasing load on the sediment
cover, i.e. under pressure,

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the water was pressed ever further out
of the deeper mud layers.

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And the fish compressed.

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After more than 150 million years,

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the plate limestones, again and again,
release previously unknown fossils.

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The fossils enable us to to look back

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on a spectacular epoch
in the history of the earth.

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Scientists meticulously prepare
the smallest detail from the rock.

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So we learn a lot about habits of animals,

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which have long since disappeared
from our planet.

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How well the Solnhofen limestone
has preserved the flora and fauna

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is also shown in the various finds
of a horseshoe crab.

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Lively specimens of horseshoe crab can be
found in Southeast Asia and America.

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How exactly those living today
are related to the extinct species

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is still being discussed in science.