Image: Fossils that helped develop the first geological map

Description: On the right: William ?Strata' Smith (geologist) The rest of the fossils displayed in this case are from the collection of a canal engineer, William Smith. While surveying land, he noticed that different rock layers, or strata, could be identified by the fossils he found in them. He toured Britain matching and mapping the strata and in 1815 published the first large-scale geological map of Britain. It enabled tremendous advances in geology? Collection to the British Museum. It included many ammonites (known as ?snakestones?) in addition to echinoids (like sea urchins); he had marine corals, fossilized wood and teeth from a marine reptile. On the left: Parkinson?s fossils This large cut and polished ammonite, Parkinsonia parkinsoni is named after James Parkinson , (best known for having described ?the Shaking Palsy? ?Parkinson?s Disease?). He formed a fine collection of fossils described in his book Organic Remains of a Former World, which gave detailed accounts of vast periods of geological time. It provided a key reference for later authors.
Title: Fossils that helped develop the first geological map
Credit: Fossils that helped develop the first geological map Uploaded by FunkMonk
Author: J Brew
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License: CC BY-SA 2.0
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