While the trilobites became extinct long before the first dinosaur had evolved, their beautiful and exotic fossils continue to excite and intrigue. The trilobites discovered in Britain have played an important role in unravelling the diversity and evolution of these remarkable animals. Here Richard Fortey explores the long and rich history of British trilobites.
The limestone bluffs of the Wren’s Nest rise up abruptly in the middle of Dudley, an industrial town close to the geographical centre of England. An undistinguished grid of ordinary streets surrounds a wild area of former quarries that happens to provide one of the most important windows into our deep prehistory.