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DdWhat bone is this? It looks like the vertebra that attaches to the skull, which I thought was the basioccipital bone, but looking it up i see that the first vertebra is called the atlas, not basioccipital, which has me very confused? I looked a few places and haven’t found the connection between the 2(no pun intended:) Is the basioccipital bone PART of the atlas? I didn’t think there was anything between the skull and vertebrae. As far as the bone in question here, this IS the vertebra that connects directly to the skull, right??? ..whichever one It.

Found some fantastic rare stuff today. First up a Plesiosaur Atlas bone (not an Atlas bone. Actually a basioccipital bone, thanks Opisthotriton.) Joins the head onto the neck via the ball joint. Extremely rare. Paddy Howe of the Lyme Regis museum identified it for me saying in his (at least fifty years) experience, he has never found one and was very impressed. I coulda stopped there and that'd been a great day. But it got better... While still grinning like I'm on day release, I came across this. An Icthyosaur rostrum. Literally at the very top of my realistic wishlist. Still with three worn teeth. Over the moon with this one. Then I came across this bone. Had to get it ID'd in the fossil shop. Turns out it's another partial ichthyosaur rostrum! But from a much bigger beast. Identified by the horizontal grooves. That's where the muscle would have joined to the bone. Also considering it's easter half term and the beach was packed, I think I've used up my quota of luck for this year! Thanks for looking. PS: I need a new list now. If any of you know any rare Icthyosaur or Plesiosaur Bones that can be found between Charmouth and Lyme then I'd appreciate it if you suggested them!