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Fossils by age
Within this section you can browse (and buy) fossils from any of the periods from the recent ice age (Pleistocene epoch) through to the start of complex life in the Cambrian. Click each of the ages and it will display what is available in that time period.
'MYO' is short for 'million years old' when applied to the age of a fossil. Most of the sections are 'periods' in time but the most recent are split into 'epochs' within the Palaeogene and Neogene periods of the Caenozoic era.
Pleistocene upto 2 MYO
An epoch within the Neogene period that ended with the last ice age of 10 000 years ago. Fossils in this epoch will be between 10 000 and 2 million years old.
Pliocene 2-5 MYO
An epoch within the Neogene period with land masses on Earth located roughly where they are today and the north and south of America finally join up. This brings about climate change by forcing ocean currents to alter.
Miocene 5-24 MYO
An epoch within the Neogene period, a time of cooling climates and the reign of the Megalodon shark. This massive Great White shark probably grew to a huge size due to the increasing population of sea mammals like whales and seals to feed on.
Oligocene 24-34 MYO
The last epoch of the Paleogene period that saw an abundance of mammals. This was on land and in the sea with the evolution of modern whales.
Eocene 34-55 MYO
An epoch within the Paleogene period and a time of great global warming and lust forest growth. Plenty of fossils available from the 'Green river formation' in the USA, the 'Barton beds' in the UK and the phosphatic mines of Morocco.
Palaeocene 55-65 MYO
The first epoch within the Paleogene period and a world without Dinosaurs for the first time in 150 million years. Plants start to diversify and mammals begin to take over. Fossils are rarely available from this epoch with large groups of creatures now extinct like the Dinosaurs, marine reptile and the normally abundant Ammonites.
Cretaceous 65-144 MYO
The end of the Dinosaurs but the period where most of the famous ones are from. Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops from the vast Hell creek formation in North America. Ammonites, marine reptiles and chalk fossils widely available.
Jurassic 144-206 MYO
The middle period for the Dinosaurs but most fossils come from the sea. Plenty of marine reptiles and Ammonites available with most of Europe under shallow sea giving rise to famous deposits at Solnhofen and the 'Jurassic coast' in Dorset.
Triassic 206-248 MYO
A time of struggle for live on Earth following the almost complete extinction at the end of the Permian. It did however give rise to the Dinosaurs and the Ammonites started to diversify.
Permian 248-290 MYO
The last period of the Paleozoic era that saw the demise of the successful order of Trilobites. Insects ruled the skies as the only flying creatures with huge dragonflies with wingspans of nearly 1m. Beetles and flies also made their apperance during this time.
Carboniferous 290-354
A period denoted by the abundant coal fossils. Land based creatures started to flourish and live amongst the ferns and conifers that had covered the planet.
Devonian 354-417 MYO
Trilobites, Ammonites and Orthoceras fill the waters as fish take their first tentative steps on land. Probably a good idea to move onto land with the introduction of the sharks.
Silurian 417-443 MYO
The period when plants first took to the land. Eurypterids (sea scorpions) grew to large sizes and lived amongst the first 'bony fish' and an abundance of Trilobites.
Ordovician 443-490 MYO
High sea levels meaning plenty of shallow water to allow a continued diversity of life in the seas. The first vertebrates with jaws in the form of fish appear.
Cambrian 490-543 MYO
The start of complex life on Earth. Trilobites appeared and took over as the main predator in the seas.