Little animals in the Coal Swamp When one collects plant fossils, Mother Earth provides sometimes a bonus in the shape of an animal fossil. Below you will find a list of specimens, collected by me or by other people. Naturally the coal forests and swamps of the Carboniferous and the Early Permian swarmed with animal life. Especially the little animals must have been present in huge numbers. But apparently the circumstances for fossilisation were unfavourable, for animal fossils are extremely rare in relation to the abundance of plant fossils. Contents Worms           Spirorbis sp. (Ibbenbüren) Bivalves           Anthraconaia sp. (Piesberg)          Carbonicola acuta (South Limburg, NL)          Anthraconauta minima (South Limburg, NL)  Insects              Breyeria harlemensis (South Limburg, NL)          Anglopterum magnificum (Crockhey, Lancashire)          Unidentified insect wing (Crockhey, Lancashire) New! Unidentified insect wing (SandyForth, Lancashire)        Gallotupus oudardi (Pas de Calais) Arachnids           Maiocercus celticus (Ibbenbüren)           Maiocercus celticus (Crockhey, Lancashire)          Anthracosiro woodwardi (Crockhey, Lancashire) New! Eophrynus sp. (South Limburg, NL) New! Aphantomartus pustulatus (Piesberg) Xiphosurans           Euproops rotundatus (Crockhey, Lancashire)         Euproops rotundatus (Liévin)           Euproops sp. (Piesberg)           Euproops sp. (Piesberg) New! Euproops sp. (Piesberg)           Euproops sp. (Ibbenbüren)           Euproops sp. (South Limburg, NL)         Euproops danae (Mazon Creek)           Euproops danae (Liévin)         Bellinurus trilobitoides (Crockhey, Lancashire)           Bellinurus sp. (Ibbenbüren)           Valloisella lievinensis (Liévin)         Young specimen of Euproops sp. (Pas de Calais) Crustaceans New! Palaeocaris  (SandyForth) New! Pygocephalus dubius (South Limburg, NL) Millipedes           Pleurojulus steuri (Manebach)           Unidentified myriapods (Crockhey, Lancashire)         Unidentified myriapod (SandyForth, Lancashire) New! Unidentified myriapod (South Limburg, NL) Cockroaches         Phyloblatta gaudryi (Graissessac) Eurypterids           Adelophthalmus sp. (Mazon Creek) Fisches         Egg cases of sharks (Crockhey, Lancashire, Engeland) Link Fossils of little animals from the Piesberg at the website of the Geological association at Osnabrück (Germany). Top