Sirius Passet facts for kids

Sirius Passet is a special fossil site, a lagerstätte in Greenland. It is from six places on the eastern shore of a fjord in the far north of Greenland. It was discovered in 1984. About 10,000 fossil specimens have been collected so far.

The fauna is just before that of the Burgess Shale, probably ten to fifteen million years older – 518 vs. 505 mya.

The fauna includes some arthropods and sponges, and rare representatives of other groups. A polychaete annelid from the Sirius Passet was described in 2008. Polychaete annelids are a significant part of the Burgess Shale fauna, but are otherwise unknown from the other early Cambrian lagerstätten. This single species from a single place improves our knowledge of this group.