Bryozoa, Graptolites encrusted rock - Top View

Bottom view of a rock found on a beach Co Waterford Ireland. Area is know for mid-Ordovician fossils dating from around 470 million years ago. The rock is 7*19*15cm and when an area approx 2*1*1cm was removed there were fossils found in the area.

Quote from GSI

"The mix of useful animal groups makes this an important site for biostratigraphical correlation

within the Ordovician Period, both in Ireland and internationally. It is even more important

because the animal species present at Tramore were biogeographically differentiated into

different faunal provinces in older rocks, and the site will be very important in understanding

the breakdown of the faunal provinciality within the Iapetus Ocean that once separated

northwest Ireland from southeast Ireland. Tramore appears to have been a key site for the

early migration of North American species into the Anglo-Welsh (and Irish) area."