Greg Edgecombe“It’s just incredible to have this in 3D without any alteration or deformation,” lead study author Dr. Abderrazak El Albani told CNN. The findings also underscore the urgency of protecting fossil-rich locations in Africa such as the Tatelt Formation, El Albani added. Such protections help to ensure that buried remnants of Earth’s distant past remain accessible for future study, El Albani said. Microtomographic reconstruction shows the newfound trilobite species Gigoutella mauretanica found in the Tatelt Formation in the High Atlas mountains. This example of commensalism — different types of animals living together — is also exceedingly rare in the trilobite fossil record, El Albani said.

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Persons: Greg Edgecombe, Greg Edgecombe “, Abderrazak El Albani, Arnaud Mazurier, Matériaux de, El Albani, mauretanica, Melanie Hopkins, ”, Hopkins, “, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Chimie, Matériaux de Poitiers, University of Poitiers, geoscience, UNESCO, Heritage, University, Poitiers, American Museum of, Scientific Locations: what’s, Morocco, Vesuvius, London, France, Africa, Burgess, Canada, New York City, Morocco —