WENLOCK EDGE – FOSSILS

The rocks of this area were laid down on a gently sloping shelf in sub-tropical, clear, shallow seas with the landmass to the east somewhere around Birmingham and deeper water to the west. The different rock types represent different environments of deposition and therefore the most abundant fossils they contain differ.

The most common fossils of the patch reefs are the reef builders themselves.  These are mostly corals such as the compound corals and rugose corals. Amoungst these colonial organisms other animals such as trilobites, brachiopods, crinoids and gastropods would have lived.  All these animals would have filtered microscopic organisms out of the water or eaten other animals.