Graptolite Fossils

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Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 800 fossil graptolites. This collection contains graptolites from the order graptoloidea. These are known as the true graptolites and are by far the commonest and the most important. Almost all specimens are from Scotland, with the remainder from the rest of Britain. The Scottish graptolites are of Ordovician and Silurian age, and come mostly from the Southern Uplands. The collection also includes what is the first record of a graptolite from the Silurian of the Lesmahagow area. Much of the material is from the collection of James Dairon, who published several papers on south of Scotland graptolites. Dairon did not record the precise locality of most of his specimens but it is probable that they are mainly from the Moffat area. Graptolites are the fossil remains of extinct marine invertebrate animals that lived from the late Cambrian to the early Carboniferous. They were colonial organisms whose colonies consisted of one or more thin branches. Typically, the fossils are preserved flattened in shales and resemble small saw blades.

Broader term

Fossils