Iran and China Shared Creatures 500-million Years Ago

The latest paleontology studies led to the discovery of 2 families, 9 species and one sub-species of Trilobite fossils in Iran, which are being introduced for the first time by an Iranian geologist, Mansoureh Ghobadipour in international specialized press.

According to Ghobadipour, the studies on the 500 million-year-old Trilobites (Ordovician era), which have been discovered in north of Damghan and Tabas, prove that Iran was near south of China during 510 to 450 million years ago.

Those creatures which had the bottom of the ocean as their habitats, such as Trilobites, most often lived in the shallow or not so deep areas and were not able to pass through the very deep parts of the ocean, therefore can help identify the boundaries of continents, explained Ghobadipour.

Ghobadipour added that since these fossils show the margin of the continents at the ancient times, they are very valuable for an understanding of the ancient geography of the earth. The studies indicate that Iran was located in the southern hemisphere between the latitudes of 30 to 60, and that north of Damghan, the sea was deeper than north of Tabas.
The similarities between the discovered fossils in Iran and South China indicate the two areas were connected by sea at that time. There are also some similarities between these fossils with those of Turkey, France, and South Italy.

Paleontology studies help the researches to rebuild Iran’s situation compared to the neighboring regions at the different geological periods

Iran is a rich source of fossil remains, but there is no specified center to collect and preserve them. Hundreds of years ago, Iran had great scientists such as Avicenna and Abu Reihan Biruni who started to study fossils, but today the country is very young with regard to paleontology studies. style="position: relative; float: left; padding-right: 4; padding-bottom: 2" width="225" height="159">Latest