It will always be an ambition when searching outcrops of the Old Red Sandstone in north-west Europe to discover fossil evidence of the often-mentioned fish fauna. At best, we may find a few scales, the odd pimply plate which was part of their body armour; only rarely will there be a convincing fish-like outline, ending in a fishy tail. When the French and Belgian researchers who work on the fossil fish preserved in the Natural History Museum of Lille in Northern France decided to summarize the 'wealth' of the Meuse Valley and the Pas de Calais, they brought literally the total fauna in one reconstruction (Fig. 4). The result is a squirming mass of shell-crushing giants, coelocanths and early sharks. Lively!
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