The Lower Devonian Between Land and Sea

Section: Palaeontology

Responsible staff: Ben Thuy

Research strategy: Understanding and Preserving Nature, Society and Natural History

Devonian fossils from Luxembourg are highly diverse but still understudied. These fossils, originating from the northern part of the country and extracted from 400‑million‑year‑old shale rocks, come from a complex palaeogeographical setting.

Located at the margin of a continent, they represent a spectrum of ecosystems between land and sea. In recent years, the Palaeontology Section of the National Museum of Natural History has intensified its research ambitions and succeeded in uncovering several important discoveries.

Fossils of organisms at the boundary between terrestrial and marine environments, recently unearthed, are particularly significant. They offer a unique insight into the terrestrialisation of complex organisms.

Recent publications :

Poschmann, M.J., Hegna, T.A., Numberger-Thuy, L.D. & Thuy, B. (2025): Mass mortality of clam shrimp (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) from the Lower Devonian (Emsian) Fossil-Lagerstätte of Consthum, Luxembourg—paleoecologic and taxonomic implications. Journal of Paleontology , First View , pp. 1 – 13.

Poschmann, M.J., Franke, C. & Thuy, B. (2024): A phyllocarid crustacean (Phyllocarida: Archaeostraca) from the Lower Devonian (lower Emsian) of Réideschbaach in Luxembourg, with emphasis on cuticle ornamentation. Ferrantia, Travaux scientifiques du Musée national d’Histoire naturelle Luxembourg, 91: 77-86.

Capel, E., Cascales-Miñana, B., Prestianni, C., Servais, T., Steemans, P., Poschmann, M. & Thuy, B. (2024): Reassessing the Early Devonian flora from Consthum Quarry (Luxembourg). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 331: 105199.

Poschmann, M.J., Mette, W., Rollinger, C. & Thuy, B. (2022): New records of Lower Devonian terrestrial arachnids (Arachnida: Phalangiotarbia, Trigonotarbida) from the Ardenno-Rhenish Mountains (West-Eifel/Germany and Luxembourg). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen, 306 (2022): 1-11.