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Please help me identify these finds from the bottom of a clay cliff in Warden Point, Isle of Sheppey a - 0.5cm thick, almost flat, smooth on the other side b - i think this is not a fossil but a handle of an old knife c - round in cross section d - this is hexagonal in cross section the remaining ones are all of the same kind and the beach was full of them, i guess they may not be fossils either but what are they?

Hi all. I went fossil hunting at the isle of Sheppey, Warden point. I found this one curious item, which I initially thought was a fossilised crab carapace. It is difficult getting the photos perfect, but I hope someone can help me ID what it is. Thank you, Nico Loubser

I bought this fish skull a while ago. It is Eocene aged, from the London clay of the Isle of Sheppey, UK. Although this is perhaps one of the rarest fossils in my collection, I don’t collect in the London clay often and I much more frequently collect in the Coal Measures. I have therefore decided to trade this skull for something from the Upper Carboniferous. As far as I can tell, this skull is from Rhinocephalus planiceps and everything looks 100% genuine. I bought it from a very well known fossil dealer, who I will provide the name of to whoever I trade it with. If you have anything to trade, please let me know. I am most interested in Arthropods and fish from the British Coal Measures and Mazon Creek fossils, but I would consider any fossils from the upper Carboniferous. Thanks, Daniel

Hi all, I found some interesting specimens from the Isle of Sheppey. Any ideas about what they could be? Probably around 50 million years old, Eocene. From the London Clay. My guesses are: Top: Initially thought it was a fish fang, but I'm starting to doubt it because the "tooth" seems to be the same material as the "jaw". Middle: Squalodon tooth? Bottom: A small animal's ulna? Thanks in advance. Jay

Hello I found this at the isle of sheppey months ago and am still unsure what it is. It does remind me of bone, I was thinking a partial jaw bone of something but unsure, any help with be appreciated, found at the isle of sheppey, Kent, UK.

G'day all! After three years since my last visit to the UK, i finally returned in December 2017 for another massive collecting trip across England. This was my most ambitious tour of the UK's Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertebrate deposits thus far, with 20 days of collecting across ten different locations. These were (in chronological order from first visit): Abbey Wood in East London Beltinge in Kent Bouldnor on the Isle of Wight Compton Bay to Grange Chine on the Isle of Wight Lyme Regis to Charmouth in Dorset Aust Cliff in Gloucestershire Saltwick Bay in Yorkshire Kings dyke in Cambridgeshire Minster in Kent Tankerton in Kent. If you went collecting at any of these places in the last month, there's probably a 25.6975% chance you saw me looking very intimidating hunched over in my hooded rain jacket and muddy pants 14 of those collecting days were back-to-back, a new record for me, though it was very tiring! Having just come from the hot Australian summer, winter collecting in England was certainly a challenge at times and my fingers and toes froze to the point i could barely feel them on multiple occasions. Temperatures for many of the days reached 0 degrees celcius or below, with ice on the ground around me and even snow falling while i was trying to collect! I also went out during the middle of the night to collect using a head torch on some occasions (mainly at Bouldnor) due to the tidal conditions and bad weather which prevented collecting during the day. All in all i am certainly pleased with how the trip went, i was successful at all locations with the exception of Tankerton. For some of the locations (Aust Cliff, Kings dyke, Saltwick Bay) it was also my first and only visit, so i'm glad i still managed to do well with no prior experience at these sites and with such limited time at each. I have tried to write this trip report not only as a means of showing you guys my finds but also to provide an informative overview of some of the better locations for Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertebrates across England for others who might be planning similar trips. Anyway, here are the results! Pictures will be spread across the next 12 posts due to file size restrictions. Abbey Wood - East London (6/12/17, 30/12/17 and 31/12/17) Formation: Blackheath ('Lesnes Shell Bed') Deposit Age: 54.5 million years (Eocene) Fossil Diversity: Sharks, bony fish, chimaeroids, bivalves, gastropods, rare mammals, turtles and crocodiles This was one of only two inland locations i visited (the other being Kings dyke). As i have found, the majority of the UK's easily accessible fossil collecting locations are coastal! Abbey Wood is an excellent location just 45 minutes on the tube from central London. It is situated in a park called the Lesnes Abbey Woods and there is a small collecting area that is open to the public for shallow digging (see my first two pictures below). You definitely need a sifter, shovel and basin of water at this location to have any real success. Be warned though that once you combine the fine Blackheath sediments with water during sifting you get some pretty gnarly mud so expect to come away from this site looking like you've just been rolling around in the dirt. I'm sure i got some interesting looks from people on the tube going back to London it was all worth it though, as every single sift load produced at least one shark tooth across the three days i visited. Very impressive considering the number of obvious holes dotted around the ground from years worth of other collectors visiting. It should be noted though that the mammalian material from this location is of high scientific importance, and collecting here is allowed on the condition that any mammalian finds be brought to the attention of and handed in to specialists like Dr Jerry hooker at the Natural History Museum in London. I didn't find any such material on my trips unfortunately. Here is the designated collecting area. The statue at the front is of Coryphodon, one of the rare Eocene mammals that has been found at the site. The full haul of shark teeth from three days of sifting in the collecting area. Most are from Striatolamia and Sylvestrilamia. I gave up trying to count them once i got past 100 Some of the other fishy bits that often turn up during sifting, including guitar fish teeth on the far left and two dermal denticles (Hypolophodon sylvestris), one gar pike fish tooth in the middle (Lepisosteus suessionensis), one shark vertebra down the bottom and unidentified bony fish vertebrae on the right. I don't typically collect shells, but i picked these up for the sake of adding a bit more diversity to my Abbey Wood collection. These are bivalves and gastropods of various species. The molluscan diversity from this one location is actually quite impressive. Beltinge - Kent (7/12/17 and 29/12/17) Formation: Upnor ('Beltinge Fish Bed') Deposit Age: 56.5 million years old (Paleocene) Fossil Diversity: Sharks, chimaeroids, bony fish, rays, turtles, crocodiles, bivalves, wood This is my favourite shark tooth collecting location in the UK and probably my favourite that i have visited anywhere so far. The shoreline directly opposite the access point at the end of Reculver Drive in Beltinge is loaded with teeth and dare i say it's impossible to come here and walk away empty handed. The shore however is very flat so there is generally only about a two hour window of time that collecting can be carried out here, one hour either side of low tide. Conditions can also vary depending on how sanded over the shore is, whether the Beltinge Fish Bed itself is exposed and how low the tide drops. However even on a poor day you will still find teeth here, just not as many! I experienced this first hand as the first day i visited on December 7th the conditions were excellent. The tide dropped quite low, there wasn't too much sand covering the clay and the Beltinge Fish Bed was exposed. This allowed direct in-situ collecting of teeth from this rich layer and i ended up with something like 240 teeth from just a couple of hours of looking. The second visit i made on December 29 of the same month was almost the exact opposite. It's amazing how quickly these coastal locations can change! The shore was largely sanded over, the fish bed was covered and the tide didn't drop anywhere near as much. I was out about the same amount of time as the first but only managed 69 teeth (only ). Keep these things in mind if you are planning a visit. Luckily though i didn't just find shark teeth, i also managed to locate some of the other less common finds as you will see below! Here is the area of shoreline that produces teeth, photographed on December 7th. It was quite cold and rainy! Three teeth sitting next to each other as found. More as-found shark teeth. This one made me quite excited when i saw it. It's a large piece of chimaeroid fish jaw and mouthplate coming straight from the Beltinge Fish Bed itself (the darker, dull-green sandy clay in this picture). Beltinge is continued in the next post.

Good afternoon, I have been looking for an ID on these for a while. I have found a thread from another site where they said the following. "Thank you for your enquiry, I have shown your specimen to a number of palaeontologists who found it interesting. After carefully examining your specimen, it seems that the most likely identification is pyrite forming around a phosphate nodule. It is possible that in the first instance, it formed around something biogenic, however, sadly, there is not enough evidence to be able to tell. The Isle of Sheppey is particularly interesting for studying Taphonomy (the study of decaying organisms over time and how they may become fossilzed). It can be considered a special place of preservation called a “Lagerstatten”. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/message/85395 I was wondering if the regular internal geometry from the few 'balls' I have found may shed any more light on a possible answer. I love the way they only break in 3 almost equal directions. Even if these are not fossils, I still find it enchanting the way nature can produce these fractal shapes. Thanks in advance for any advice/answers you can give on these.

Hi all, I just acquired this interesting specimen that was identified by the seller as Helicodromites mobilis. However, when trying to verify this, the images and description I've been able to find really don't seem to match. The whorls on this are flat and attached to the core. To me, it looks more like a cast of a shark egg case. Are any of you familiar with H. mobilis? Thoughts? Thanks for taking a look!

Hi all, I'd be ever so grateful if someone could assist me in identify the attached photos (top, bottom and side views). Location specimen found: UK, Isle of Sheppey, Minster, along the coast walking south east towards east end, near the shipwreck. Collected: 18/08/2016 I've looked up London clay fossils finding various, similar looking structures, however it seems to me more than likely just rock/mineral formations but wasn't 100% sure, any help would be gratefully appreciated. Many thanks

Today I found myself with a few hours to spare but the weather didn't look too good. The wind was strong and the clouds looked like imminent rain. I decided to risk it and head out to the beach. Wrapped up with plenty of layers and my trusty hoody I started along the shingle towards my usual hunting spot. With the strong onshore wind the tide had not receeded very far as of yet and was cutting me off from my prefered location so I decided to look around the sections I had access to. Almost immediately I spotted my first crab of the day. This was quickly followed by 2 more! Feeling lucky I decided to stay a while longer and found another couple to add to the collection. After the tide had receeded enough to move to the next section I moved on and was rewarded again finding a handfull more crabs and some badly rolled fossils. Moving on from this point was another rewarding section below a soon to fall tree where I found my first ever recognisable lobster! :-) I finally reached my favoured section where I found a few small sharks teeth. Looking to the sky I could see it was going to turn nasty very soon, so I turned back towards the car. Along the way I picked up a final couple of crabs and then hurried back to the car with my pockets full! Upon reaching the car the heavens opened! I had made it just in time! Feeling very lucky today!

Added a couple of lovely Otodus Shark teeth to my collection over the last week. Recently finding anything of note on the Isle of Sheppey has been difficult with bad weather and mud slides covering much of the clay but over the last week I managed to get out a few times and was lucky enough to find a few crab nodules which need a fair bit of prep and a couple of nice teeth. One of which I believe to be Otodus subserratus which tends to be quite rare here to my knowledge.

Can anyone shed some light on Ids for these 3 nautilus fossils I found 2 days ago on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, Uk. Many thanks :-)