Prehistoric Brachiopods Fossil Display

Prehistoric brachiopods, marine animals fossils displayed within a museum case. 1" - 1 1/2" fossils in 3 1/2" X 9" case. Brachiopods have a very long history of life on Earth, first appearing as fossils in rocks of the earliest Cambrian age. Their descendants survive, albeit relatively rarely, in today's oceans & seas. They were particularly abundant during Palaeozoic times ( 248 to 545 million years ago) & are often the most common fossils in rocks of that age. Modern brachiopods occupy a variety of sea-bed habitats ranging from the tropics to the cold waters of the Arctic & especially the Antarctic. Most live in the relatively stable environments below the low-water mark in sea water of normal salinity, but some have wide salinity tolerances & live in more marginal marine environments, though few can survive the turbulence of the intertidal zone. Although now relatively rare, they may be locally abundant because they tend to be gregarious.