Didymograptus murchisoni, graptolites from the Ordovician, Wales, Great Britain

Didymograptus murchisoni, graptolites from the Ordovician, Llanvirn Series, Abereiddi Bay, Pembs, Wales, Great Britain.

Didymograptus murchisoni fossil, a member of the extinct group of colonial marine animals known as graptolites, dating from the Ordovician period (about 485 to 443 million years ago). This particular specimen was found at the celebrated fossil locality of Abereiddy Bay, Wales, Great Britain - a region renowned for its well-preserved graptolitic shales. Graptolites were colonial animals, either floating or sessile, belonging to the class Graptolithina in the phylum Hemichordata. They lived in oceans throughout the world from the Late Cambrian to the Early Carboniferous and played a vital role in the marine ecosystem as planktonic organisms. The name graptolite comes from the Greek graptos ("written") and lithos ("rock"), referring to their appearance, which often resembles ancient writing engraved in stone. Didymograptus, a well-known graptolite genus, is particularly abundant in Ordovician rocks and is widely used by geologists as an index fossil for dating marine sediments. Their delicate structures preserved in black shale or slate offer a captivating glimpse of prehistoric life, showing the formation of ancient colonial systems.

Condition as shown in the photographs.

Matrix dimensions: 5x4x0.8 cm.