In some limestone we find fossilised coral, stemming from a coral reef on the edge of an ocean over 200 million years ago.
Coral polyps are small animals that accumulate limestone, and eventually build coral reefs. Coral reefs are the most species-rich environment on Earth, and this was already the case over 200 million years ago.
The remains of mussels, snails, fish and aquatic reptiles are also found in these limestones.
Over millions of years, vast cemeteries of sea life, with thousands of meters of deposits, piled up on the ocean floor.
Today these fossil-rich rocks are found, for example, on the Murtèr saddle, at 2500 metres above sea level, a long way from any tropical ocean.