An abandoned oil-shale pit near Frankfurt that was nearly turned into a landfill and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, because the black shale preserves complete animals: bats with their last meal identifiable, horses the size of a terrier with unborn foals, beetles that still show structural colour, a pair of turtles fossilised while mating. Preservation quality is arguably the best on Earth for its age. LOOK ONLY; guided tours from the visitor centre.
Whole mammals with fur and gut contents · Eocene, ~47 mya
This ground is protected. Photograph it, record it, leave it where it lies. On US federal land the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act 2009 makes collecting vertebrate fossils an offence, and penalties are real.
Germany
See it on the map
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
