Bottom dweller
Dorset Kimmeridge Clay is rich in fossils of different animals, most of which were free-swimming. Very few bottom-dwelling animals such as this starfish are found because most of the time the sea floor was stagnant and poisonous to life. Although poor for the bottom-dwellers, these conditions are excellent for fossilisation because there were few animals on the sea floor to eat, and therefore break up, the animals before they became fossilised.
