Bivalve and Brachiopod Fossils

Bivalve and brachiopod fossils are the remains of marine animals that lived millions of years ago and have been preserved as fossils.
They are amongst the most common fossils to be found – in the UK Gryphaea are amongst the most common – ‘devils toenails’, a form of bivalve mollusk.

These fossils are often used to provide information about historical marine environments and the evolution of life on Earth – this is a method known as biostratigraphy or paleontologic stratigraphy, and is used to date strata of rock formations by common fossils.