‘Lapillitubus montjuichensis’, the first urban fossil found in modernist buildings in Barcelona

“Urban fossils” have taken the attention of scientists and general audience for ages. In this field, ichnology is a discipline in palaeontology which studies fossil traces and prints left by the activity of these organisms in the past. These fossil traces or ichnotaxons –old burrows, dinosaur footprints, etc. - can reveal some mysteries on the features of the organism and the palaeoenvironment from millions of years ago.

“The new urban fossil Lapillitubus montjuichensis dates back to 12 million years ago, and is a simple, cylindrical and rectilinear burrow without any branching. It shows a layer of quarzitic lithocasts, that is, small quartz fragments or stones -1 to 10 mm in diameter- randomly displayed”, says Professor Zain Belaústegui, from the Department of Earth and Ocean Dynamics of the UB.

The findings of the new urban ichnofossil – the first one described in a modernist building in Catalonia and Europe- are reported in a scientific article published in the journal Geologica Acta by the experts Zain Belaústegui, from the Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona, and Alejandro Belaústegui, from the Asociación Alumnos Mayores (Senior Students Association, ALMUCAT) of the Carlos III University of Madrid, in Getafe Campus.

Further information