- Research Team: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena & international partners
- Location: Atacama-Wüste, Chile
- Period: Triassic (approx. 252 to 201 million years ago)
- Discovery: Highly complex ecosystem with insects, fish, and plants
- Special Feature: Exceptionally good preservation (soft tissues, skin impressions)
Jena / Chile (2026-02-11) – When Jena scientists travel to distant lands, they often bring home spectacular findings. An international research team led by the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena has now achieved a remarkable coup in South America that sheds new light on Earth’s history.
The Atacama-Wüste in northern Chile is considered one of the driest places in the world. However, over 200 million years ago, the landscape looked entirely different. This has now been proven by researchers from the Uni Jena. Led by Diego Volosky, the team discovered an “unusually rich fossil deposit,” which is already being handled as a minor sensation in professional circles. The results were recently published in the scientific journal Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology.
A Window into the Triassic
The finds date back to the Triassic, a geological period approximately 252 to 201 million years ago. At that time, the world map had not yet split into the continents we know today; the giant southern continent of Gondwana united South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.
What the Jena researchers found, together with colleagues from Chile and Argentina, is extremely rare in its diversity and completeness. The discovery includes remains of plants, insects, freshwater crustaceans, mollusks, as well as fish and even sharks. Diego Volosky from the Universität Jena explains the significance: “Such complete and diverse fossil communities are rare, especially considering the age of the fossils.”
Unique Preservation Thanks to Oxygen-Poor Depths
Particularly fascinating for paleontologists is the condition of the specimens. Normally, organic remains decompose over millions of years or are destroyed by scavengers. In this case, however, a prehistoric freshwater lake preserved life almost perfectly.
The scientists assume that fine-grained sediments and oxygen-poor conditions at the bottom of the ancient body of water protected the dead organisms. “As a result, insects remained completely preserved, along with fish skeletons showing skin impressions and the reproductive organs of land plants,” reports Volosky. These details allow researchers today to reconstruct a complex food web – from aquatic life to the vegetation on the shore.
International Cooperation Strengthens Jena as a Research Hub
The find once again underscores the relevance of the Jena university in top-tier international research. Alongside Diego Volosky, Olga Schmitz is also part of the multidisciplinary team. As a micropaleontologist at the Uni Jena and the Max-Planck-Institut for Geoanthropology, she focused on the smallest witnesses of time: ostracods (seed shrimp). These tiny organisms, usually smaller than a millimeter, are to be examined even more closely in future studies.
Peter Frenzel, head of the Paleontology working group at the Institute for Geosciences at the Universität Jena, speaks of a “stroke of luck” for his department. The current publications are only the prelude to a larger project. A central question now driving the team: How did life recover after the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history at the end of the Paleozoic? The fossil site in Chile could provide answers to how ecosystems react to extreme global changes – a topic that could hardly be more relevant given today’s climate change.
For the City of Science Jena, this find is further proof that research “Made in Thüringen” leaves traces worldwide – or in this case: makes ancient traces visible again.