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Hello everyone, I just arrived in Lyme Regis yesterday and decided to go fossil hunting straight away. I am very much a beginner and have only looked for fossils once before in a limestone quarry in Germany which was very different to a beach. After about 3 hours of little success I picked up this bone on my way back, it must've just been washed up as the tide was going down and it was still in the water. Is there any chance this could be a fossil? How can I tell if it's a fossil or just a regular bone from a recently dead animal? I also took some other things with me that I'm not sure are fossils - any pointers as to if they are trash or treasure would be much appreciated. I know there are at least two ammonite fragments in there though. Lastly, a question for the geologists: I was wondering if anyone knows about the reddish partly translucent rocks found in the area? Looks to me like some kind of agate perhaps?

Found in Jurassic muds, whiteish in colour, resembles bone fragment, poss a white belemnite (never seen one before, have hundreds) slight curve, id. pls. Found near Charmouth. Still part inside rock so doubt modern but not impossible as muds, small animal? Modern Squirrel, bird or rabbit bone? Or fossil? Appears to have marrow in x section. Thanks.

Hey everyone, I've been searching for a document or book or anything else that gives an expansive list of ammonite species which can be found in the charmouth mudstone formation or just charmouth and seatown in general. I can't seem to find anything, which seems so weird to me because it is such a well visited location. So if you know or have such a list at hand, please send it to me. Also if someone can provide me with a graph with the biozones and succession at charmouth and the ammonite species like the one I attached (it is for the boulonnais in France), that would be extremely helpful.

It's been a while since i posted a proper trip report, so i thought i'd show you guys the spoils from my recent trip to the Lyme Regis area in early April 2023 (collecting from the 3rd to the 9th). I spent the week intensely scouring over the foreshore for any vertebrate fossils that i could, as marine reptiles are my main interest at this particular fossil site. But i found many great invertebrate fossils as well! Especially ammonites and belemnites. These fossils are all Early Jurassic in age, about 200 to 190 million years old, and come from the Blue Lias and Charmouth Mudstone formations. Most of my collecting time was on the beach between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, but i also visited Monmouth Beach west of Lyme Regis, which spectacularly showcases literally thousands of ammonites embedded within the shore platforms. This trip was my 6th to Lyme Regis overall, so i was hoping to find some vertebrate specimens that i hadn't yet found on previous trips. And things proved very successful! Despite the large amount of people on the beach over the Easter break. Firstly, some shots of the beautiful coastline. It really is an amazing place to collect. This is the beach immediately east of Lyme Regis, looking out at Church Cliffs, the Spittles, and Black Ven. This is midway between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, looking east towards Charmouth. A closer view looking towards Charmouth. This is the famous "ammonite pavement" at Monmouth Beach, west of Lyme Regis, where thousands of ammonites can be observed in the shore platform. This Mary Anning statue has recently been erected near the beach access point east of Lyme Regis (within the last year i believe). People were leaving both flowers and fossils here which is lovely. Now to the fossil finds! Including some "as found" pics of fossils lying on the beach, before i picked them up. Starting with a nice section of marine reptile rib. I suspect this is plesiosaur rather than ichthyosaur. The end of some kind of marine reptile limb or phalange. Possibly the end of a plesiosaur phalanx. This is the bottom half of an ichthyosaur humerus. I've drawn the approximate shape of the part that is missing. A small piece of ichthyosaur rib. This is a new one for me. A fragment of hybodontid shark dorsal spine. Although it is just a piece, these are relatively rare on this coast. Perhaps the quintessential marine reptile bone from this coastline, an ichthyosaur vertebra! As found on the beach and then in my hand. Finding these never gets old. This is the top of an ichthyosaur femur. The natural cross section of the bone shaft preserves amazing detail of its growth rings! A small fragment of ichthyosaur jaw, with several rounded cross sections of worn teeth. Something else i had yet to find from this area: marine reptile coprolites! One is quite beach worn, while the other is rather 'fresh'. No pun intended. As-found pictures of marine reptile bone chunks sitting on the beach. Here's a final summary of all the vertebrate finds from the trip. For a weeks worth of searching i'm very happy with this lot! And of course, the invertebrates! I particularly loved some of the larger ammonites, although carrying them off the beach would require a team of people! And these definitely wouldn't fit in my suitcase returning to Australia... A lovely belemnite. This one is a nautilus! Finally, something i wasn't expecting to find. This is a small crustacean from the Upper Greensand (Cretaceous rather than Jurassic). Overall it was a fantastic trip! And i'm looking forward to returning whenever i can. Thanks for checking out this report

This fossil crustacean was collected in England on the foreshore between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, amongst the algae-covered large boulders that are exposed at low tide. It looks to be in some kind of phosphatic nodule. The cream-colour of the matrix is quite unlike the dark Jurassic rocks that make this region famous. I was thinking it is unlikely to be from the Jurassic layers, and probably originates from the overlying Cretaceous sequences higher up in the cliffs? Both Gault Clay and Upper Greensand (Albian in age) unconformably sit above the Jurassic beds. Does anyone know which of these deposits are known to produce crustacean specimens with this type of preservation and lithology in the Lyme Regis area? Thanks for any input!

Hello! First post on the forum! I'm very much a hobby collector. Just a few years collecting mostly jurassic fossils in the UK. Somerset, Dorset, Yorkshire etc... Found this rather beautiful ammonite the other day at Stonebarrow, Charmouth in Dorset. Any help with ID would be much appreciated. Looking forward to collaborating on the forum in the future.

Roughly two years ago, while investigating the identity of a marine reptile tooth said to have come from Lyme Regis, I got hinted about a spectacular new marine crocodile, much older than any other member of the thalattosuchian clade. This new species has finally been described: Turnersuchus hingleyae! Set outside the traditional subgroupings of teleosauroidea and metriorhynchoidea, this newly described species has major implications for the evolutionary relationships between thalattosuchians and other crocodylomorphs. Wilberg, Godoy, Griffiths, Turner & Benson, 2023. A new early diverging thalattosuchian (Crocodylomorpha) from the Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of Dorset, U.K. and implications for the origin and evolution of the group. Art by Júlia d'Oliveira (source)

Found this at the weekend on Charmouth beach, the black flakes look like scales or possibly bone. We looked at hundreds of bits that morning but nothing else like this, any ideas?

New to this group so I hope I'm posting within guidelines. Apologies if not. My son found this at Charmouth last winter and it's been stashed in his jar of belemnites. But last night he noticed this one is different, it has ridges on both sides and isn't cone shaped like the others. He's hoping its pterosaur! Can anyone help with ID? Thanks.

Hello everyone, A friend of mine and his family will be headed to the south-central and southwest portion of UK for a vacation next week. He asked me if there were any places to collect fossils. 20 years ago I did some collecting in Charmouth, but I know times and permissions change. ANy recommendations on where he could take his family and what if any restrictions or limitations there may be? thank you

Hello all! My name is Rafa and this is the first time writing in the forum. Instead of posting in the introduction section, I figure it was more entertaining to do it by my first field trip report and finds, in this case to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset. I am sure nothing new to the members of the group as it is a mega famous place, but I had the most amazing weekend taking my first steps into this amazing world and would like to share! About me, I am a Uruguayan living in Munich, Germany since 6-7 years, and with some family in the UK. I am a total beginner in this from both the paleontology and fossil collecting sides. I have always been interested in Paleontology but what really pushed me out there was a wonderful video of the NZ guy "Malambo Fossils" in which he shows his adventures collecting and preparing (mostly) crabs. That intensified my desire to get deeper into this fascinating world and start to collect and learn. So, during a visit to my family in London last week I decided to take a weekend trip to Lyme Regis. There are plenty of reports and information on this area but here are my thoughts: Lyme Regis and Charmouth are very nice towns, even for non-fossil people but quite expensive! a single bed room was 80 Euros/night even in these months. It was totally worth it though. Staying in the nearby towns inland is cheaper, many well connected with buses (including the "Jurassic Coaster"). Careful with logistics on Sunday as surprisingly the buses run very few routes, and getting a taxi to the nearest train station was even a challenge. Having a car makes everything easier. The closest hostel I could find is in the town of Beer (awesome name) but it was unavailable and the prices I could check are also quite expensive. It is possible to do it from London by train, and the best route I found was a direct train to Axminster and then a bus to Lyme Regis. The direct trains are not very common though. Google maps is very accurate and perfect for planning. Being a total beginner and ignorant in these topics, it was amazing to be able to find lots of fossils to get even more motivated about this activity. The Lyme Regis museum (house of Mary Anning) is perfect, the right size and with so much interesting stuff to experience. The guided tours I would say are also a must, but since I failed to book in advance I could not take one. Many of the fossil shops, which are also amazing, are owned by old time fossil collectors from the town/region, and the once I met are amazing to talk to, have million stories and are very generous to share the knowledge and passion. They also do guided tours. All fossils can be collected as long as you don't abuse, so chiseling the walls or big blocks is not allowed and I heard that also one cannot use trollies or wheelbarrows to take stuff home, so basically you can take whatever you can carry. even in the short length of coast from Pinhay Bay to Charmouth, the layers that are exposed changes therefor "producing" different type of fossils, and knowing this in advance can target you in the desired direction, something I was (and still are) totally ignorant about. the beach right out of Lyme Regis to the east is packed with small "fools gold" amonites that are very easy to find, and a great thing for kids or people that just want to find fossils without chopping rock etc Pinhay Bay, which I loved, was completely deserted even in the weekend. In my case it produced less "free" fossils than Lyme Regis beach towards Charmouth, but exiting ones inside nodules or rocks which meant less fossils in my case (since I have zero experience) but also more rewarding when one starts to learn to read the marks and shapes that reveal that a fossil is inside, or the type of rock etc. I had no luck with Ichthyosaurus vertebrae, but apparently they are quire common finds. I was unlucky or most likely not eye-trained enough. Some pics of Lyme Regis Now on to the finds. I spent two half days, and one full day over a weekend and with excellent weather. Upon arrival at Lyme Regis I went straight to Lyme Regis Beach in direction to Charmouth which I did in roughly 5-6 hours, then took the last bus to Lyme Regis. Did not find much at the beginning of the walk as the tide was already out for a couple of hours when I got there, and the first part of the beach gets "combed" by lots of people, or maybe I am too much of a beginner who knows...One thing that I also find interesting is the Victorian times artifacts that you can find such as coins, silverware and parts of ceramics and glass. As I got closer to the "Black Ven" I either started to get luckier or better trained and found several amonites and belemnites, in some cases cracking a rock open here and there. I also collected some rocks, and what I think might be a coprolite? I also got a bunch of amonites from a fellow hunter. The good thing about being a beginner, even the smallest trace of fossil is a worthy keep! Now the next steps is to continue learning, identify my finds and eventually start testing some prep work on some. Any tips or questions welcomed! (was actually on day 2) Surfing seagulls

Hi all! I've been really busy creating all these watercolour illustrations based on fossils from the Jurassic Coast. Here we have an Ichthyosaur, a Plesiosaur, an Ammonite, a Scelidosaurus and a Belemnite. There will be a few more to come soon...

Hi everyone These two pieces were collected by my boyfriends father and his family about 60 years ago on the Jurassic coast of Charmouth/Lyme Regis. A little while ago he brought them out to show me and said I could keep the ones I liked. I chose these two, but not to keep. My idea was to prep them, reveal the fossils inside and give them to him at Christmas. I used a Dremel with specialised tips and a sewing needle in a pin vice under a microscope. Overall I'm quite happy with how they turned out, not perfect, but I can see my own improvement. The larger single ammonite (Promicroceras sp. I think) had significant pyrite rot on the matrix on the reverse side. I removed it with the Dremel and will coat the ammonite and the reverse side with Paraloid. As you can see, the matrix split beside the ammonite whilst I was Dremelling. It would be great to hear opinions on whether you think the piece looks better with the matrix glued back on, or left alone? I would love to hear any advice and critical feedback. Before: The reverse side After an hour or so on the Dremel: The reverse side, after removing the pyrite rot: All finished after a bit more Dremel work and about 2 hours with a needle (no Paraloid yet though): With the excess matrix: Without the excess matrix: The second piece, before: After an hour or two with a needle: After about 40 mins with the Dremel: All finished after a few more hours with a needle and some Paraloid to glue back the broken pieces and stabilise:

I've spent a fair amount of time now combing the beaches around Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Dorset, England, and thought i would put together a topic that presents all of my marine reptile bone finds (so far) in one place. The fossils here are Early Jurassic in age, approx. 195-190 million years old and come predominantly from the Blue Lias and Charmouth Mudstone formations. I first visited this area in 2013 with the simple goal of finding at least one ichthyosaur vertebra, and now after three subsequent trips in 2014, 2017 and 2019, i've put together a far better assortment of finds than i could have possibly hoped for! I think i have been quite lucky along this coastline, although it has taken many hours to amass this collection. Across all four of my England trips i have spent a total of 18 days looking for bones in the Lyme Regis area, most often on the stretch of beach between Lyme Regis and Charmouth but sometimes at Monmouth Beach as well. This coastline also produces a large quantity and diversity of ammonites, belemnites, crinoids, bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, and even rare insects. However i've always been most interested in fossil vertebrates, and so the ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs that are found here have been my primary target for collecting. There are also some impressive articulated fish to be found, but as yet i have had no luck in finding any! Ichthyosaur bones are the most common type of vertebrate fossil in the area, particularly their bi-concave vertebrae. Less commonly you can also find pieces of the jaw, sometimes with teeth. If you are extra lucky though you may also find plesiosaur bones, which for whatever reason are much rarer than those of ichthyosaurs. The best way to find any type of marine reptile bone around Lyme Regis is to closely examine the shingle on the beach, and i've spent seemingly countless hours bent over and slowly walking along the shore looking for them. If you have a bad back it's even more difficult! I've learnt that bones can be found pretty much anywhere on the beach: in the slumping clays, at the top of the beach in the 'high and dry' shingle, along the middle of the beach, at the low tide line, and also underwater amongst the rocky pools and ledges. And just when i start to think that the beach has already been heavily searched and there isn't much left to find, there always seems to be another bone that turns up, often lying in plain sight. The truth is that most people who visit here to collect are not experts and will probably walk past a lot of these bones, as the texture is the most important thing that gives them away and learning to recognise it takes a bit of time. For the sorts of articulated skeletons that sometimes make news headlines and are beautifully intact, searching the shingle is not the way to go, but for a short term visitor like me i think it is the best way of maximising the chances of finding any sort of reptile bone in the shortest amount of time (and something i can take back with me on the plane too!). Without further ado, here are the pics (spread across multiple posts due to file size limits). I've also included as-found pictures for some of these finds to provide a sense of what they look like and how they are found when they are on the beach. The collection so far. Starting first with my favourite Lyme Regis fossil, this is a very nice plesiosaur vertebra that is in great condition! A very rare find! I have been very fortunate to find two plesiosaur vertebrae at Lyme Regis so far, although this one is smaller and more beach-worn than the previous example. Continued below.

Hi, we found this in Charmouth beach, do you think it may be a tooth or a claw? Thanks!

Hi everyone. Today, I found this on the beach east of Charmouth, Dorset, England whilst digging for iron pyrite ammonites. Curious to know what it might be. It’s shell-like and rippled. Looks quite fragile too, as many from the soft rocks along that stretch of beach tend to me. Any sensible thoughts welcome.

Hi I found this on a walk today, I’m not a fossil hunter but thought it looked interesting. Can anyone give me some idea of when it was formed and what it is? It measures approximately 10” or 26cm long when measured round the rock. Thanks

Hello, I found this at Charmouth and am wondering if it was a bone and if so what sort of bone?

Hi all, thank you for letting me join and post our find. My kids found this fossil(?) on Charmouth beach in the UK a few years ago. We didn't think it was anything until a family friend pointed out that it looked like a vertebrae or pelvis bone of some kind. I have no idea honestly so my apologies if that is a ridiculous thing to say. We are hoping it is a dinosaur bone, but any kind of fossil would be amazing, especially for my son who is 10 and LOVES dinosaurs and fossils. We hope you can help and I hope the pictures are okay. Please let me know if you need different photos and thank you all so much for your help and contributions to people.

Scelidosaurus: ready for its closeup at last The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a project that began more than 150 years ago. University of Cambridge One of four newly published papers listed in the above article: Norman, D.B., 2020. Scelidosaurus harrisonii (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England: biology and phylogenetic relationships. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Yours, Paul H.

I found this on Charmouth beach (west) UK, last week on the shoreline. It weighs 57 grams. It has a dark appearance but glows orange when backlit by bright light. Any identification ideas would be appreciated Thanks!

I know it’s probably pyrite but is the ammonite shape just a coincidence playing tricks on the eye, or could this actually be an ammonite? Found by my daughter today on Charmouth beach, Dorset

Hello, I wonder if anyone could help me with this please? If I remember correctly I found it on the beach at Charmouth Dorset. Looks to me like some kind of fossilised plant/seaweed? The photos are all of the same stone. Any input would be great. Thanks.

Hi, everyone I had a great hunt at Charmouth today and found a couple of rarer remains. I found two articulated Ichthyosaurus vertebrae almost as soon as I walked onto the beach and later on another bone that is probably Ichthyosaurus as well. Seldom do I find any decent marine reptile remains, so this was a good trip for me.