|
Date: |
|
Description: | Specimen of a fossil graptolite, Monograptus convolutus, collected from the Convolutus Zone, Stockdale Group, Skelgill Formation of Silurian, Llandovery, Aeronian age from Browgill, Cumbria (NW England). Collected by E.J. Garwood.
This well-preserved graptolite fossil looks like a miniature saw blade. In fact it is the skeleton of a colonial animal called a graptolite. Each 'tooth' is a flattened tube. A tiny animal once lived in each tube, using small tentacles to capture particles of food in the sea water. Graptolites floated near the surface of the sea where there was lots of food available in the warm, sunlit water. After death, the animals decayed away but the skeletons sank to the seabed. There they became buried in mud and fossilised. The 'brassy' colour of the skeleton is due to partial replacement by the mineral Pyrite. Pyrite is also known as 'Fool's Gold'.
The specimen was found in Cumbria.
It is from the Silurian period (443 - 418 million years ago) | Publisher: | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums | Subjects: | Graptolithina Classification: Animalia E.J. Chordata Hemichordata Garwood | Temporal: | Silurian period (443 - 418 million years ago) | Source: | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums | Identifier: | http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/geofinder/se... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
-
-
-
Graptolite
This well-preserved graptolite fossil looks…
-
Graptolite
This well-preserved graptolite fossil looks…
-
-
-
-
|