Description
Birkenia elegans Tranquair 1899
Middle Silurian
Glenbuck Group, Fish Bed Formation
North bank of Shiel Burn, Monks Water, 2.5km east of Glenbuck, Hagshaw Hills
Scotland
60mm on 70mm x 45mm matrix.
Birkenia was a small, jawless fish that lived during the Silurian period, over 420 million years ago. It had a slender, torpedo-shaped body covered in tiny scales and used its tail to dart through the water. Unlike modern fish, Birkenia had no jaws—instead, it likely sucked in tiny particles or plankton for food. As one of the earliest known vertebrates with a backbone, Birkenia was part of a pioneering group that helped shape the future of fish evolution—a tiny but important swimmer in Earth’s ancient seas.
