Monte San Giorgio
The pyramid-shaped, wooded mountain of Monte San
Giorgio beside Lake Lugano is regarded as the best fossil record of
marine life from the Triassic Period (245–230 million years ago). The
sequence records life in a tropical lagoon environment, sheltered and
partially separated from the open sea by an offshore reef. Diverse
marine life flourished within this lagoon, including reptiles, fish,
bivalves, ammonites, echinoderms and crustaceans. Because the lagoon was
near land, the remains also include land-based fossils of reptiles,
insects and plants, resulting in an extremely rich source of fossils.