Early Palaeozoic sites with soft-tissue preservation are predominantly found in Cambrian rocks and tend to capture past tropical and temperate ecosystems. In this study, we describe the diversity and preservation of the Cabrières Biota, a newly discovered Early Ordovician Lagerstätte from Montagne Noire, southern France. The Cabrières Biota showcases a diverse polar assemblage of both biomineralized and soft-bodied organisms predominantly preserved in iron oxides. Echinoderms are extremely scarce, while sponges and algae are abundantly represented. Non-biomineralized arthropod fragments are also preserved, along with faunal elements reminiscent of Cambrian Burgess Shale-type ecosystems, such as armoured lobopodians. The taxonomic diversity observed in the Cabrières Biota mixes Early Ordovician Lagerstätten taxa with Cambrian forms. By potentially being the closest Lagerstätte to the South Pole, the Cabrières Biota probably served as a biotic refuge amid the high-water temperatures of the Early Ordovician, and shows comparable ecological structuring to modern polar communities.

Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Geology Prague Czech Republic

Czech Geological Survey Prague Czech Republic

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Iowa Iowa City IA USA

Department of Earth Sciences University of Geneva Geneva Switzerland

Institute of Earth Sciences University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland

Société d'Etudes Scientifiques de l'Aude Carcassonne France

Synchrotron SOLEIL L'Orme des merisiers Gif sur Yvette France

Univ Brest CNRS Ifremer Geo Ocean UMR 6538 Plouzané France

Université de Lyon Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 École Normale Supérieure de Lyon CNRS UMR5276 LGL TPE Villeurbanne France

Université Paris Saclay CNRS ministère de la Culture UVSQ MNHN Institut photonique d'analyse non destructive européen des matériaux anciens Saint Aubin France

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Reply to: The Cabrières Biota is not a Konservat-Lagerstätte

Highly resolved taphonomic variations within the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota