…and UNESCO World Heritage Site
The so-called “oil shale” of the Messel Pit near Darmstadt contains particularly well-preserved fossils that give us a unique insight into the European flora and fauna of 48 million years ago. The “oil shale” is solidified sludge that was deposited at the bottom of an oxygen-poor lake. The water was stagnant, so that everything that sank into the lake was covered intact by the finest sediment. Due to the poor mixing of the water layers and the associated lack of oxygen, which prevented the decomposition of dead organisms that had sunk to the bottom, a particularly large number of details such as stomach contents or soft tissues of vertebrates, tiny scales from butterfly wings, or plant cells were preserved.
48 million years ago, the climate here was tropical, and the lake was home to numerous species of fish and even crocodiles. Many fossils of insects, bats, and birds that lived in the adjacent tropical rainforest have already been found. Primitive horses also lived in this forest. They had toes with small hooves and fed on leaves and fruit.