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Saltwick Bay find


dhiggi

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Found this little thing this morning while rummaging in the shale on Saltwick Bay. First thought was just a small piece of belemnite, but one side is concave and the other is convex, so not sure what it could be (if anything at all)

Can anyone shed any light on it?

For those unfamiliar with the area the beaches are awash with belemnites, ammonites and bivalves. Ichthyosaurs are occasionally found here too.

Thanks in advance 

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Cropped and brightened:

 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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Piece of straight shelled cephalopod

( orthocone ).

Convex end

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Concave end. You can see the septum in the middle.

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  • I found this Informative 2

 

 

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Not actually an orthoconic nautiloid but part of the phragmocone of a belemnite - Saltwick Bay is Jurassic (so orthocones were extinct) and that will be from the Upper Lias.

 

Very similar to an orthoconic nautiloid (and actually a descendant of one), a belemnite effectively being an internalised orthocone with the extra rostrum (or guard) on the end. (The siphuncle will be near the margin though that's not diagnostic.)

 

From here: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Reconstruction-of-the-belemnite-animal-based-on-Naef-1922-Stevens-1965-and-our-own_fig1_274990114

 

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Tarquin

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Thanks TqB, very informative. So not a new  species for me, but still a good day. Tide times weren’t great so we didn’t have long there. Found some nice bivalves and a couple of pretty good belemnites

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2 minutes ago, dhiggi said:

 Found some nice bivalves and a couple of pretty good belemnites

A great place for belemnites! - if you want to post a couple of photos from different sides, an ID to at least genus should be possible.  

Tarquin

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21 hours ago, TqB said:

A great place for belemnites! - if you want to post a couple of photos from different sides, an ID to at least genus should be possible.  

8EC0691E-9638-4A28-BD2B-9E25E850AD19.jpeg

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Good haul - the bivalves are all Dacromya ovum - they are irresistible:)

 

The three larger belemnites are probably all Acrocoelites sp. and the thin one is probably Simpsonibelus dorsalis.

They should all have three apical furrows, though the third (ventral) one is often reduced so much it's practically imaginary! - a nuisance as it's also supposed to be diagnostic.

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Tarquin

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Thanks TqB, that’s given me plenty to put into google :)

The Bivalves are all exactly as I found them, among the loose shale, the belemnites all came out of shale and needed repairing 

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Very nice finds. Thank you for posting photos of them.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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