Hamstead 16th June 2017

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Hi, 

 

I thought I'd share some of my best finds from my trip to Hamstead earlier today. Today was my first collecting trip there in almost a month due to the living hell most British 18 year olds have to endure, commonly called, A level exams. As my exams are starting to wind down and finish next week, along with my entire school career (I'm nearly  free!) I thought I'd head up there and do some collecting to get back into the swing of things for the summer. We've had a long period of very hot, calm, and still weather here in southern England, and that coupled with the recent influx of eager tourists during the early June school holidays, has meant that on many parts of the Hamstead - Bouldnor coast decent finds other than turtle carapace and plastron fragments are pretty thin on the ground. Nevertheless I hit the beach at about 8am this morning and over the course of the morning/early afternoon found some fairly nice specimens, although the reduced productivity was quite noticeable.

 

The best find of the day was a large section of Diplocynodon s.p jaw, seemingly from the left mandible, lying out on the Bembridge Marls on the foreshore (although it's most likely from the Lower Hamstead Mbr).  Another really interesting and nice find was a fragment of mammal mandible, with a molar still in situ within it's alveolus. Unfortunately the tooth itself has been heavily worn so the crown is missing, although the roots can be seen within the mandible. Based off of the shape of the alveoli and the size it's likely its from an Anthracothere such as Elomeryx or Bothriodon although without the crown it'll be difficult to properly ID it. Other finds included a small section of mammal rib, a worn proximal end of a femur, various fish vertebrae from Amia s.p (Bowfin) and from unidentified teleosts, a worn crocodilian vertebral centrum, and about 50-60 small to medium sized fragments of turtle carapace (from Emys and Trionyx) and crocodilian scutes, including posterior marginal, marginal, and neural plates. I'll attach images below. 

 

Thanks, 

 

Theo 

 

1. Large section of Diplocynodon s.p mandible. 

 

 

2. A section of mammalian rib 

 

 

 

3. Mammalian mandible fragment with molar roots in situ.

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4. A second view of the mammalian mandible fragment showing the worn tooth in situ.