Untangling soft-bodied preservation in the Miocene Öhningen Konservat-Lagerstätte

The Miocene (Serravallian) Öhningen Maar in southern Germany is one of the most famous Konservat-Lagerstätten. In addition to its abundant plants and vertebrate fauna, the soft-bodied biota preserved in Öhningen is diverse, including various insects, aquatic arthropods, and arachnids. While the Öhningen Maar is often regarded as a single deposit in the literature, it is imperative to recognize that there are notable differences between the two separate outcrops. Not only are there variations in sedimentology, modes of preservation of the soft-bodied fossils, and fossil diversity at the outcrop scale, but these elements can also vary within a few centimetres of the same exposure. Part of this variation can be attributed to changing depositional environments and seasonality, but modern weathering and historical collections bias may also play significant roles. However, understanding the correlative nature of these proxies is in its infancy. Here we present new data from sedimentological, petrographic, paleontological, geochemical, and SEM-EDS analyses which showcase the importance of a multiproxy approach to the understanding of this convoluted deposit. The aim is to provide improved clarity onto the paleoecological and taphonomic questions that have plagued the Öhningen Maar for decades.