Fossils & palaeontology
A
fossil is the remains of an organism that has been buried by natural
processes and become permanently preserved. The remains can include
microscopically small fossils, such as single-celled foraminifera
or pollen grains, as well as more familiar fossils such as trilobites,
ammonites, bivalves and brachiopods. Fossils provide important evidence
for evolution, and the adaptation of plants and animals to their
environments. Through the process of evolution, different kinds of
fossils occur in rocks of different ages, enabling geologists to
use fossils to understand geological history. Ancient environmental
changes are also reflected by fossils, such as the abundant fossil
corals found in rocks of Lower Carboniferous age, showing that parts
of the UK were covered by a warm, shallow, tropical sea, like those
in which modern day corals flourish
Reconstruction of a Lower Carboniferous tropical reef based on
fossil remains found in the UK
Our core work is biostratigraphical and palaeoecological investigation in the fields of:
