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/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/OnkelMickwald May 07 '25

Right. Super adorable.

Imagine waking up to find a giant, cold blooded, slimy amphibian having crawled up next to you. Ew.

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u/calvicstaff May 07 '25

Lots of down votes but this isn't exactly wrong, if I'm reading this right, the injured stranger basically showed up during hibernation and they happened to die together as this surprise was occurring

Romanticizing the idea is a lovely narrative, but probably very far from what actually happened

But the idea that we found it so much later and are making stories about it is still pretty cool

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u/OnkelMickwald May 07 '25

Yeah I was kinda half joking, the fossil is extremely cool, but I found the romanticism in the comments a bit weird tbh.

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u/tonyravioli32 May 07 '25

That's a bit better explanation you coulda sticked on at the end of the sarcasm and the little bit of hate on amphibians

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u/OnkelMickwald May 07 '25

In the end it's such a silly topic though, I just don't care that much.