The occurence of hard body parts also signals the beginning of the main fossil record at the beginning of the Cambrian Period. Eleven cases in the Natural History Museum correspond to twelve periods of the Phanerozoic. The last period of the Phanerozoic, the Permian, is combined with the first period of the Mesozoic, the Triassic, in a single case. Two more cases finish the Mesozoic Era, one for the Jurassic Period and one for the Cretaceous Period. Finally two cases, one for the Paleogene, and one for the Neogene comprise the Cenozoic or Recent Era.
Many additional cases address specific aspects of the fossil record.
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