Hamstead May 20th 2017

[TXV24]

Hi, 

 

I thought I'd share some of my nicest finds from recent trips up to Hamstead in the past two or so weeks. The tides have changed now in the western solent so I wasn't able to get out for as long as I usually am able to this weekend, (only 10am - 1pm instead of 7am to 4pm) so I didn't manage to find as much as usual. However, we've had a lot of periods of wet and windy conditions followed by warm and dry weather, which has brought down some areas of the cliffs and really churned up the sediments and seabed bringing a fair amount of material (the other week I came back with nearly 1kg of finds!), so conditions are currently pretty good. Turtle remains, most from Emys and occasionally Trionyx are still massively dominant over any other type of material followed by fragments of crocodilian scutes and vertebrae, fish remains, and fragments of bones. Mammal and crocodilian mandibles have been occasionally popping up here and there though along with loose teeth. Below are some pictures of the highlights from the last 2 weeks of collecting (may be in more than one post). 

 

1. A very large (for Hamstead at least), nearly intact crocodilian scute, likely Diplocynodon s.p

 

[TXV24]

2. Smaller fragments of crocodilian scutes, most probably Diplocynodon s.p

[TXV24]

3. A small section of crocodilian mandible, Diplocynodon s.p

[TXV24]

4. A small anthracothere molar, either Bothriodon s.p or Anthracotherium s.p although I'm leaning towards the latter

[TXV24]

5. Some worn crocodilian vertebrae centrums, the smallest still has some processes attached, likely Diplocynodon s.p

[TXV24]

6. Two large pieces of mammal mandible, I believe the darker one is most probably Bothriodon s.p or at least an anthracothere, but I'm finding it hard to ID the lighter more intact jaw, although it shares some slight resemblances to Plagiolophus s.p (any suggestions welcome).

[Darktooth]

Really great finds! Congratulations on a successful hunt!

[JohnBrewer]

@TXV24 Hampstead eh? Turtle scutes? Metric ruler? Gotta be Hampstead on the Isle of Wight!

 

nice finds! Hope to get there in the summer. 

[Ludwigia]

Nice finds. Last time I was there I was watching Jimi Hendrix play The Star Spangled Banner with his teeth from my vantage point on the golf course. That was quite a while ago, so I guess I'll have to get back there as well some day now that I have a new hobby.

[TXV24]

@JohnBrewer Ahahah you've guessed right! We've had loads of cliff falls and some fairly new mudslides towards the Hamstead end of things plus loads of scouring so if you get the chance to it should be really productive!

 

@LudwigiaWow that's really cool, you definitely should we've literally got everything here from massive cretaceous ammonites to an almost never ending amount of Paleogene material  (about 95% of which is turtles aha!)

[JohnBrewer]

If I can get over (AND afford the bus fare [ @caldigger ] )over the most expensive piece of water in the world AND find somewhere reasonable to stay I'll give you a nod. Would be great to hook up with you for a day @TXV24

 

John

[TXV24]

@JohnBrewer Yeah unfortunately the ferries are quite literally the opposite of cheapest ahaha, but I'd be more than up for that, it's rare to meet anyone down there these days (The guys at Dinosaur Isle reckon I might even be the only one who actually goes there) so it'd be good to get out with someone else who hunts there!