Editing Palenque (section)

== Paleontological significance ==
Research inside the temples of Palenque has revealed the presence of numerous extremely well-preserved [[fossil]]s of marine fish and invertebrates in the [[limestone]] slabs used to build the temples, as well as in the former quarries that this limestone was mined in. The existence of these fossils was known since the 19th century, but they only received significant scientific and archeological attention since the 2000s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Cantalice |first1=Kleyton M |last2=Alvarado-Ortega |first2=Jesús |last3=Bellwood |first3=David R |last4=Siqueira |first4=Alexandre C |date=2022-07-20 |title=Rising from the Ashes: The Biogeographic Origins of Modern Coral Reef Fishes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac045 |journal=BioScience |volume=72 |issue=8 |pages=769–777 |doi=10.1093/biosci/biac045 |pmid=35923187 |issn=0006-3568|pmc=9343231 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Alvarado-Ortega |first1=Jesús |last2=Cuevas-García |first2=Martha |last3=Cantalice |first3=Kleyton |date=2018-02-01 |title=The fossil fishes of the archaeological site of Palenque, Chiapas, southeastern Mexico |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X17305485 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |volume=17 |pages=462–476 |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.11.029 |bibcode=2018JArSR..17..462A |issn=2352-409X}}</ref> These fossils have been dated to the [[Tenejapa-Lacandón Formation]] of the [[Danian|Early Paleocene]], shortly after the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event]], and document the recovery of marine ecosystems following the extinction, including the development of modern [[coral reef]]s. Fossils include some of the earliest representatives of modern reef fish, such as [[Serranidae|serranids]] (''[[Paleoserranus]]''), [[damselfish]] (''[[Chaychanus]]''), and [[Syngnathiformes|syngnathiforms]] (''[[Eekaulostomus]]''), in addition to some of the last members of extinct groups such as [[Pycnodontidae|pycnodontids]]. This diverse ecosystem existed despite the area being relatively close to the impact site of the [[Chicxulub crater|Chicxulub meteor]], which caused the extinction in the first place.<ref name=":0" /> The Mayan residents of the area appear to have been well aware of these fossils and actively collected them, including by using fossil shark teeth and ray spines from the nearby [[Miocene]] [[Tulijá Formation]] as cutting tools, painting some of the fish skeletons, and cutting the slabs to display the fossils better, making them among the earliest known [[Paleontology|paleontologists]].<ref name=":1" />