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From the Maastricht Chalks hundreds of species of bryozoan have been described. These animals live in colonies, with each individual building its own ‘cubicle’. From this cubicle they extract food particles from the sea water with the help of tentacles arranged in rings. Bryozoans are exceptionally multiform: within the colony, certain individuals are able to adapt to perform specialist functions, with some bryozoans turning into brooding chambers, or defensive ‘bird beaks’, or cilia which keep the colony clean. All individuals are interconnected, through openings in the side walls of the cubicles or through wholly tubular individuals.