Coral Colony

Fossil

Coral Colony well etched proud of limestone, from the Burren, County Clare.

There are two steps in the creation of a fossil. First the organism must be buried and entombed in rock. Secondly, compression and chemical change are needed to produce fossils.

After death, most organisms are eaten, or they decay and their constituents are recycled. Only exceptional circumstances cause an organism to be buried intact, or with all the hard elements of the skeleton intact. The most important of the required conditions is an oxygen-free environment.

Fossils show that organisms have changed their shape and life habits throughout geological time. This is evolution, the capacity of life forms to change and adapt in response to stress.

This specimen has been donated to Clare Museum by the National Museum of Ireland.

Ref: 2000.227

Geology Collection
National Museum of Ireland, Earth Science Division Collection