ABSTRACT
Lower Carboniferous bryozoans in Germany are poorly investigated. The most comprehensive study is that by Nekhoroshev (1932), who described 18 fenestellid, 3 rhabdomesid and 2 trepostomid species from a museum collection. Another, more recent study, is that by Wyse Jackson & Weber (this volume). The German Lower Carboniferous is represented mostly by different kinds of shales, often silicified, containing pelagic faunas (ammonites, radiolarians), as well as plate carbonates (Kulmplattenkalk). Carbonate sediments appear usually in form of separate beds, few centimeters up to 2 m in thickness. They consist of a crinoidcoral packstone, partly silicified, and are extremely rich on fossils (Korn, 2002). However, these are usually poorly preserved.
