Highest Quality Soft Tissue in a Fossil

Reported to be the “highest quality soft tissue preservation ever documented in the fossil record.” Muscle, complete with blood-filled vessels, found in Ribesalbes Lagerstatte deposit, Castellon, Spain. (Ancient muscle tissue extracted from 18 million year old fossil. University College Dublin press release, November 5, 2009.) “… the detail revealed by TEM (transmission electron microscopy) imaging unequivocally identifies the organic remains as fossilized musculature from the salamander itself.” (McNamara, M. et.al., Organic preservation of fossil musculature with ultracellular detail. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Published online before print October 14, 2009.)