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Logotyp för Naturhistoriska riksmuseet

The Paleozoic of Västergötland

There are around 15,000 fossils in our collections from Västergötland, spanning the Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian periods (540-420 million years ago). Most of the material comes from the area around the plateau mountain Kinnekulle.

Fossil collecting in the area around Kinnekulle has taken place for a long time, and is still ongoing, most recently during a departmental trip in 2019. Parts of the collection have been registered in the database, including approximately 9,000 fossils from Ordovician sediments.

Among the fossil invertebrates from Västergötland are numerous trilobites and some other arthropods, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, echinoderms (mainly cystoids, but also sea lilies), graptolites, worms (annelids), corals, bryozoans and a lot "Problematica".

Trilobites comprise by far the majority of the collection from Västergötland, but brachiopods, cephalopods and graptolites are also common. Of particular note is an interesting collection of trace fossils (around 2,500 specimens) from the Cambrian, including the enigmatic Spatangopsis, Rhusophycus and Cruziana and the debated "trace" Eophyton.

The trilobite at the top of the page is a Diacantahspis decacantha Angelin from the Late Ordovician. Photo: Anna Lindström

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Page manager: Anna Lindström