Why is the Wenlock Limestone important?

The Wenlock Limestone is extremely important to palaeontologists because it shows us how many different sorts of organisms were living at this time and in this environment, and provides us with clues about the relationships between them. It was one of the first fossil communities discovered and studied.
The information we can get from the fossils in the rock help us to build up a very comprehensive picture of the environment in which the Wenlock Reef formed, 420 million years ago.
Click on the picture of the Wenlock limestone slab (above left) to view a larger version.