Close Calls and Fossils: Do We Overlook the Ordinary in Search of the Extraordinary?

How China’s “Pompeii” Fossils Tell a Different Story

few years ago, my husband and I were out in the woods with the local climbing club. We went to a closed sky resort to practice hour survival skills to prepare for a mountaineering trip.

For example, what do you do if you suddenly start sliding down a glacier or fall into a crevasse? These are skills that you want to have practiced before you find yourself in life-or-death situations.

Things were quiet, and nobody got hurt, even as we played and slid down the slopes as elementary school kids. However, as we were getting out of the resort, something unexpected happened.

We started hearing a loud noise coming from the woods. Suggestively, we saw the biggest deer I’ve ever seen running full speed directly into my path.

I froze, and in a last-minute epiphany, my husband ran towards me, avoiding the fatal encounter.

Everybody was speechless. This could have ended very badly, but he happened to be close enough to her and react the right way at the right time. Then I heard someone say that it was a miracle, but I didn’t buy it.

Thousands of events happen every day, many of which end in catastrophes and some near death. It’s just a matter of chance. But do we tend to attribute the “less likely” scenarios to supernatural forces?

And are scientists biased by the same phenomenon? Well, today’s story explores this idea a bit further. Are paleontologists biased when it comes to interpreting the fossil record?

Fossils, including feathered dinosaurs, birds, mammals, and entire skeletons with soft tissue traces, have been discovered in stunning detail in northeast China’s Yixian Formation.

Often described as “China’s Cretaceous Pompeii,” this site has been likened to the preservation of Pompeii’s citizens—caught and buried during their lives by volcanic activity. For years, scientists believed pyroclastic flows from ancient volcanoes suddenly entombed these creatures.

However, a recent study has made scientists reconsider this hypothesis, suggesting some fossils tell a different story—one of quiet natural processes rather than a dramatic volcanic end.

But let’s look at what they did, should we?

The researchers, led by Dr. Scott MacLennan of South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, set out to examine the geological layers surrounding these fossils closely. Something paleontologists commonly do when they want to understand more about a fossil’s habitat at the time of burial.

Using a highly precise dating method, they studied zircon crystals found in the surrounding rock and fossils themselves. This method allowed them to estimate the fossils’ age to fewer than 93,000 years. Quite a huge resolution if we usually talk about millions of years!

And what did they find?

Well, with their findings, the team challenged the notion of Pompeii-style death events. Instead, of catastrophic volcanic flows, they propose that these fossils were preserved through more common processes: creatures were buried by sediments during periods of heavy rain, and some may have died when their burrows collapsed. So, a flood event?

Quite interestingly, the tightly packed sediment protected them from decay by creating oxygen-poor conditions, ideal for fossilization.

The research offers a more detailed look at the circumstances around these fossilized creatures’ deaths. Dr. Paul Olsen, one of the study’s authors, explains that attributing these remarkable fossils to dramatic volcanic events is a reflection of “an important human bias.”

As Dr. Olsen puts it, there’s a tendency “to ascribe extraordinary causes, i.e., miracles, to ordinary events when we don’t understand their origins.” In other words, the appeal of a grand, dramatic explanation may have overshadowed the more routine processes that actually occurred.

Instead, these fossils may represent a snapshot of “everyday deaths in normal conditions over a relatively brief time.”

However, the findings not only reshape our understanding of how these creatures were preserved but also challenge the assumptions surrounding their final moments. In fact, there’s no evidence of volcanic trauma on these fossils.

For instance, the remains don’t show the twisted, contorted “pugilistic” positions typical of bodies trapped by extreme heat. Instead, many are found lying in relaxed, lifelike postures—some curled as though they’d fallen asleep in their burrow.

This difference is critical in ruling out the idea that pyroclastic flows or lahars (fast-moving volcanic mudflows) caused their burial, as Dr. Olsen explains: “Lahars are extremely violent … [and] would likely tear apart any living or dead thing they encounter.” Indeed, something we don’t want to encounter.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect is the preservation of 3D fossils like Psittacosaurus, a small dinosaur whose remains were found in what appeared to be collapsed burrows. According to the researchers, fossils buried this way tend to have finer sediments surrounding them, which they found to be the case here.

Finer sediments facilitate preservation over millions of years.

Dr. Olsen adds that even today, burrow collapses pose a risk for burrowing animals like penguins. It’s likely that the environment of the Yixian Formation had similar dynamics, with bigger dinosaurs or heavy rain destabilizing the ground and causing burrows to collapse.

This hypothesis of gradual sedimentation and burrow collapse, rather than catastrophe, offers a more straightforward explanation of how these animals were preserved. One that’s less fantastic, but indeed more plausible.

In terms of broader significance, the study reminds us that incredible preservation doesn’t necessarily mean incredible events. The team’s approach offers a window into what they describe as a “snapshot” of normal life and death, preserved by natural environmental changes over thousands of years.

These findings show that seemingly perfect fossil sites like Yixian might not be unique—only more intensively explored. As Dr. Olsen notes, there are other sites, including several in the United States, that could hold similarly well-preserved fossils but lack the intense collecting efforts seen in Yixian.

I hope we start exploring them soon!

However, from a bigger picture, the study suggests that high levels of preservation can occur without catastrophic conditions, opening up new possibilities for understanding past ecosystems in areas previously thought to lack dramatic events.

Instead of rare, miraculous preservation, we might find fossils that provide equally rich details through more gradual, natural processes. Just life as usual fossils.

Ultimately, this study not only changes how we view the Yixian fossils but also broadens our understanding of fossil preservation itself, something we call taphonomy. Far from needing a volcanic “miracle,” fossils like those at Yixian demonstrate that, sometimes, everyday events can leave a lasting mark.