The Messel Pit: Window into a Greenhouse World by Krister Smith

“…Ancient ecosystems under such “greenhouse” conditions may be seen as natural experiments, and their study may help us anticipate the future, should mediation fail. The Messel Pit, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Germany, is a fossil-rich deposit laid down in the Eocene under such a greenhouse climate. …”
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Seven remarkable new fossil species of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from the Eocene Messel Pit. by Tamara Spasojevic, Sonja Wedmann, Seraina Klopfstein

“…We here describe seven new ichneumonid fossil species and two new genera from a remarkable insect fossil site, the Eocene Messel Pit in Germany (~47Ma). The unique fossil preservation allows us to place five out of the seven new species unequivocally in extant subfamilies and genera. …”
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Palaeoamyda messeliana nov. comb. (Testudines, Pan-Trionychidae) from the Eocene Messel Pit and Geiseltal localities, Germany, taxonomic and phylogenetic insights by Edwin Cadena

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A global phylogeny of Pelomedusoides turtles with new material of Neochelys franzeni Schleich, 1993 (Testudines, Podocnemididae) from the middle Eocene, Messel Pit, of Germany by Edwin Cadena

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The phylogenetic relationships of geoemydid turtles from the Eocene Messel Pit Quarry: a first assessment using methods for continuous and discrete characters by Eduardo Ascarrunz, Julien Claude, Walter G. Joyce

“…The geoemydid turtles of the Eocoene Messel Pit Quarry of Hesse, Germany, are part of a rich Western European fossil record of testudinoids. …”
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Microscopical and elemental FESEM and Phenom ProX-SEM-EDS analysis of osteocyte- and blood vessel-like microstructures obtained from fossil vertebrates of the Eocene Messel Pit, Germany by Edwin Cadena

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Messel Pit UNESCO World Heritage Fossil Site in the UNESCO Global Geopark Bergstrasse-Odenwald, Germany – Challenges of Geoscience Popularisation in a Complex Geoheritage Context by Marie-Luise Frey, Pascal Schmitz, Jutta Weber

“…Despite its paleontological importance, the Messel Pit was under threat to become a waste disposal site, and its eventual designation as the first Natural World Heritage UNESCO geosite in Germany followed an intense fight in which numerous principles of geoheritage and geoscience popularization were explored. …”
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Exceptional preservation of internal organs in a new fossil species of freshwater shrimp (Caridea: Palaemonoidea) from the Eocene of Messel (Germany) by Valentin de Mazancourt, Torsten Wappler, Sonja Wedmann

“…Abstract A new species of extinct freshwater shrimp was discovered in the Eocene deposit of the Messel Pit Konservat-Lagerstätte. This rare find is represented by only a few specimens, one of which showing exceptionally preserved soft tissues and other internal parts like the stomach with possibly gastric ossicles in place, branchiae, the ovary, and the left mandible, never described in a fossil shrimp. …”
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Detection of porphyrins in vertebrate fossils from the Messel and implications for organic preservation in the fossil record. by Sandra Siljeström, Anna Neubeck, Andrew Steele

“…The aim of this study was the in-situ analysis of a well-preserved vertebrate fossil from 48 Ma Eocene sediments in the Messel pit, Germany for preservation of complex biomolecules. …”
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Geotourism—Examining Tools for Sustainable Development by Marie-Luise Frey

“…The geopark examples in this study include Lesvos Island UGGp (Greece), Naturtejo UGGP (Portugal), Vulkaneifel UGGp (Germany), and Hong Kong UGGP (China), as well as the example of the Messel Pit World Heritage Site (WHS) (Germany). The latter was integrated to present an example which is not a geopark, showing that this concept can also be transferred to a WHS as a tool for sustainable development according the UN 2030 Agenda. …”
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