Almost a hundred new animal species that survived a mass extinction event half a billion years ago have been discovered in a small quarry in China, scientists revealed Wednesday.
The treasure trove of fossils offers a rare glimpse into a cataclysmic event that brought a sudden end to the greatest explosion of life in our planet's history.
The site where the fossils were found in the southern Chinese province of Hunan was "extraordinary," Han Zeng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told AFP.
"We have collected over 50,000 fossil specimens from a single quarry that is 12 meters high, 30 meters long and eight meters wide," added the lead author of a new study in the journal Nature.
In this small space, the Chinese team uncovered more than 150 different species — 91 of them new to science — between 2021 and 2024.
Han described "wonderful experiences when we realized that those animals were right there on the rock."
"Many fossils show soft parts including gills, guts, eyes and even nerves," he added.
Among the species discovered were ancient relatives of worms, sponges and jellyfish.
They also found many arthropods — a family that includes modern-day crabs and insects — including spiny, stalk-eyed creatures called radiodonts which were the apex predator of the time.