Didactical leaflet
Carpopenaeus callirostris
Carpopenaeus callirostris lived in Haquel.
The fossiliferous area of Hajoula (Lebanon) is one of the world's richest places in fossil finds with an incredible variety of marine animals. The quality of their conservation is very good, thanks to the fine sediments that covered and preserved them.
In the Cretaceous period, more precisely between Cenomanian and Albian stages (about 100 million years ago) the present mountain region of Haquel was a sea-lagoon. The lagoons are habitats rich in different and numerous forms of life. The shallow water is particularly appropriate for the reproduction of many species. Here the primary nutrient substances do not sink in the abyss and life can prosper succesfully. But lagoons are a delicate balance, since they are strictly connected to the presence of oxygen. If, for any reason, the connection to the sea is cut out (1), the quantity of oxygen drops drastically. Or for this to happen, it may be sufficient a river bringing a heavy quantity of biological sediments, whose decomposition will consume much oxygen. Both circumstances would result in a plague of animals (2), unable to find any dissolved oxygen in the water, which has become anoxic. The lack of oxygen prevents the action of micro-organisms (3), which would make the dead animals' bodies decay. In this way, sediments have the time to cover them (4), making the fossilization process start (5). In the ancient lagoon of Hajoula many events like these should have happened repeatedly, giving us nowadays the possibility to have an extraordinary view of the Cretaceous sea.
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