Coal Measures Fossils

Coal-mining had a major effect on palaeontology, the study of fossils.
As the miners worked the coal seams, they would find the remains of plants and animals that had lived at the time the coal formed, more than 300 million years ago.

By studying such fossils, and the rocks in which they are found, we can reconstruct the environment in which they lived.

They show us that where Bolton now stands was, at that time, a network of tropical swamps, rivers and lakes, similar to the Florida Everglades today.

The fossil shown here is the lower jaw of a fish called Rhizodus hibberti. When alive, it would have been around 2 metres long.
Other specimens of this species show it could have reached a colossal 7 metres in length!