Upper Ordovician crinoid pavement lagerstätte from South Wales - the discovery and rescue

Abstract

In 2012 a new relief road was built in Carmarthenshire, South Wales cutting through fossiliferous rocks of Upper Ordovician age and revealing new geological sections. The engineering company undertaking the construction work developed a good working relationship with palaeontologists wanting to collect from new temporary exposures. This was extremely valuable when a bed revealing large accumulations of a single species of fossil crinoids was discovered. Due to engineering deadlines the specimens had to be excavated rapidly but cooperation with company allowed access to the site until all the material was removed.