Brachiopods filter plankton, using a specialized organ: the lophophore. It is exceptional to find silicified skeletons of this organ. You can see it in this specimen of Liospiriferina from the Jurassic

Brachiopods are a phylum of small marine shellfish, sometimes called lampshells. They are not common today, but in the Palaeozoic they were one of the most common types. They lived near the shore (littoral zone), but now they have been pushed into deeper water by competition from bivalve molluscs.

At their peak in the Palaeozoic era the brachiopods occupied a number of marine ecological niches. They were among the most abundant filter-feeders and reef-builders. Many sat on the sea floor, but some swam in the jet-propulsion style of scallops. Brachiopod fossils have been useful indicators of climate changes during the Paleozoic era.