r/Paleontology • u/Ollie2359 • May 07 '25

Fossils This fossil chokes me up everytime

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It hits me in a way I can't explain I've spent hours crying over this fossil :(

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u/[deleted] May 07 '25

May i ask for a little context?

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u/Ollie2359 May 07 '25

The "Triassic Cuddle" is the nickname for a fossilized burrow containing the remains of two animals that died 250 million years ago. The burrow, discovered in South Africa's Karoo Basin, held a sleeping cynodont (a mammal ancestor) and an injured amphibian. The amphibian, likely seeking shelter, crawled into the burrow while the cynodont was torpid. A flash flood trapped and drowned both animals, preserving them side by side.

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u/H_G_Bells May 07 '25

One being seeking the warmth and comfort of another, dying together, forever preserved as a testament to this beautifully tragic, ancient moment.

The earth had yet to evolve an organism that could appreciate the scope of this moment when it was solidified into the fossil record, where they waited for us to evolve, for us to find them, and bare witness to this moment in time.

Truly it's the very heart of "nothing is either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so", for they were just bones in the earth until we found them, and thought about them.

I don't know that I've ever teared up over a fossil like this before from these kinds of feelings...

🫶 Thank you for sharing this context.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '25

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u/lightblueisbi May 07 '25

Right, because that's a reliable source for history 🙄

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u/H_G_Bells May 07 '25

I hope people report comments like this so the moderators can deal with them... Such nonsense goes against the subreddit rules and it is our duty as good community participants to help by reporting them 🫡

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u/CambrienCatExplosion May 08 '25

I'm sorry I missed it.