{"id":17398,"date":"2026-09-24T08:47:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T06:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/?p=17398"},"modified":"2026-09-24T08:47:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T06:47:42","slug":"schatzkarte-fossilien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/schatzkarte-fossilien\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Develop a Treasure Map for the Search for Past Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Palaeontology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Munich, xx.xx.2026: Fossils are our only source of information for reconstructing the history of life on Earth. However, the fossil record is incomplete: We know a lot about some geological eras, but very little about others. Palaeontologists have now drawn a global map to serve as a guideline for fossil hunters: They have identified areas around the world where previously unknown fossils are most likely to be found. Their overview shows where the search for past life may be most rewarding for researchers. In particular, geological strata from Earth\u2019s more recent history remain unexplored in many regions<\/em>. The scientists published the results of their study in the journal Science Advances.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fossils offer a deep glimpse into Earth\u2019s history. They provide insights into extinct animals and plants as well as past ecosystems. However, the fossil record is also very incomplete: for an animal or plant to become a fossil at all is a rare coincidence, and only a small fraction of Earth\u2019s organisms are actually preserved in this way. In addition, geological strata from different geological eras must be accessible today in order for fossils to be found in them at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our knowledge of past life is distributed very unevenly across geological eras and geographic regions. Some geological eras and regions appear to be well-researched: numerous fossils have already been found there. In contrast, we still know very little about other geological eras and regions. Fossil excavations are extremely time-consuming and expensive\u2014therefore, it would be important to focus efforts on areas promising new information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas A. Neubauer of the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History (SNSB) and his colleague Mathias Harzhauser of the Natural History Museum in Vienna are now providing researchers with a tool they can use directly for this purpose. In their study, the two paleontologists quantified the spatial distribution of all fossil finds of animals from shallow-water ocean environments over the past 540 million years\u2014and, for the first time, marked the locations on the world map where fossil data is lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers searched the archives of the Paleobiology Database (PBDB). The PBDB is the world\u2019s most important freely accessible database for fossil records and encompasses a large portion of the published paleontological information.The researchers mapped all marine shallow-water areas throughout Earth\u2019s history that, according to the PBDB, contained fossil data. In addition, the scientists tracked historical trends in paleontological research of this habitat: They documented the rate at which research in specific regions has actually yielded new information over the past decades and centuries. The researchers cross-referenced this data with geological data from the Macrostat database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis revealed that the Early Mesozoic (approx. 252 to 66 million years ago) and the Palaeozoic (approx. 539 to 252 million years ago) are particularly well-studied. Neubauer and his colleague do not expect any significant increase in information from fossil finds in these periods in the near future. The fossil record is least complete in Earth\u2019s more recent history: despite an already rich body of evidence, the researchers\u2019 analyses indicate that many more finds are still expected from the shallow-water marine deposits of the Cenozoic Era (beginning 66 million years ago). To improve our understanding of this period, the researchers identified areas around the globe where fossils of previously unknown species are likely to be discovered\u2014and where such discoveries are indeed possible because the relevant geological strata are accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that many regions of the Earth remain unexplored offers hope for valuable new discoveries,\u201d says SNSB palaeobiologist Neubauer of the SNSB. \u201cBut precisely because expanding the fossil record is quite challenging and progresses only slowly, our work can help researchers worldwide to focus their research specifically on these still largely unexplored areas. We provide a valuable guide for planning future projects and excavation campaigns. The same applies to the examination of existing museum collections awaiting scientific analysis. Through sensible prioritization, we can fill gaps in the fossil record strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publication:
<\/strong>Thomas A. Neubauer, Mathias Harzhauser, Staking out the frontiers: The limits of the metazoan shallow marine fossil record. Sci. Adv.12, eaeh3920 (2026). DOI:10.1126\/sciadv.aeh3920 https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.aeh3920<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific Contact:<\/strong>
PD Dr. Thomas A. Neubauer
SNSB \u2013 Bayerische Staatssammlung f\u00fcr Pal\u00e4ontologie und Geologie
Tel.: 089 2180 6541, E-Mail: neubauer@snsb.de<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Stone coral Heliastraea<\/em> sp. from the Middle Miocene at P\u00f6tzleinsdorf near Vienna. (Image: Natural History Museum in Vienna, Alice Schumacher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Scallops of the species Oopecten gigas<\/em> (Schlotheim, 1813) from the Middle Miocene at Wiedendorf in Lower Austria. (Image: Natural History Museum in Vienna, Alice Schumacher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Natural history collections such as the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology in Munich are archives of biodiversity that also preserve material from regions that are often still unexplored. (Image: SNSB, Karina Hagemann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Paleogeographic map of the Middle Miocene, approximately 15 million years ago, illustrating a time period with a comparatively low density of finds but high potential for new discoveries. (Image: SNSB, Thomas Neubauer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n



<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palaeontology Munich, xx.xx.2026: Fossils are our only source of information for reconstructing the history of life on Earth. However, the fossil record is incomplete: We know a lot about some geological eras, but very little about others. Palaeontologists have now drawn a global map to serve as a guideline for fossil hunters: They have identified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17488,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17398\/revisions\/17488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snsb.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}