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Solite Quarry
Virginia's Fossil Treasures
The Solite Quarry at Cancade, Virginia is one of the most significant fossil excavations in the world today.
Late Triassic (220 million-year-old) fossil plants, insects, and vertebrates from Solite are shedding light on one of the most important periods in the history of life on land. At the end of the Triassic period as the dinosaurs rose to prominence, the foundation for today's terrestrial (land) ecosystem was set. The oldest mammals, croccodiles, frogs and turtles come from the late Triassic At the Solite Quarry, scientists have discovered that many modern insect orders and families made their first appearance in the fossil record during the Late Triassic. These include Trichoptera (Caddisflies), Thysanoptera (Thrips), and a variety of Coleoptera (beetle), Hemiptera (bugs), and dipteran (true fly) families.
The Solite fossils can be difficult to see since they consist of silvery impressions on a black shale, yet microscopic details of the hair-like structures on insect bodies and legs are well preserved. Other "soft parts" includes skin, muscle, and ligaments on some small lizard-like reptiles, Tanytrachalos. Dr. Nicholas Fraser, VMNH Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, is collaborating with Derek Briggs, a leading authority on Burgess Shale fossils, to investigate the nature of soft preservation in the Solite Fossils. The Burgess Shale Quarry in the Canadian Rockies has yielded many detailed fossils of previously unknown soft-bodied animals. Like Burgess Shale organisms, the soft tissue of the dead Solite animals was originally subjected to bacterial decay. The bacteria were then fixed and replaced by minerals. Contrary to expectations, a little decay is essential to produce some of the world's best fossils.
-VMNH poster
D.S.K.
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�Copyright 2009 Georgetown University 
