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Paleontologists investigating the seabed off the coast of Southern California have discovered a lost ecosystem that for thousands of years had nurtured communities of scallops and shelled marine organisms called brachiopods. These brachiopods and scallops had thrived along a section of coast stretching approximately 250 miles from San Diego to Santa Barbara for at least 4,000 years.
But they had died off by the early 20th century, replaced by the mud-dwellling burrowing clams that inhabit this seabed today. Because this community disappeared before biologists started sampling the seafloor, its existence was unknown and unsuspected. Only dead shells remain, permitting analysis by paleontologists.Image credit: Adam Tomasovych
