Fossil bone found at Lyme Regis?

[bubbles-18]

Hello everyone,

I just arrived in Lyme Regis yesterday and decided to go fossil hunting straight away. I am very much a beginner and have only looked for fossils once before in a limestone quarry in Germany which was very different to a beach.

After about 3 hours of little success I picked up this bone on my way back, it must've just been washed up as the tide was going down and it was still in the water. Is there any chance this could be a fossil? How can I tell if it's a fossil or just a regular bone from a recently dead animal?

I also took some other things with me that I'm not sure are fossils - any pointers as to if they are trash or treasure would be much appreciated. I know there are at least two ammonite fragments in there though.

Lastly, a question for the geologists: I was wondering if anyone knows about the reddish partly translucent rocks found in the area? Looks to me like some kind of agate perhaps?

[Rockwood]

Give the bone a light tap with a spoon. If the sound it makes is high pitched the way fine china would sound it's a mineralized fossil. A slightly lower pitch would indicate modern bone. A stone can be tapped to help make the comparison since fossil bone is essentially stone.

[Mike from North Queensland]

can not help with the fossils but the flat sheet pieces with the dimpled surface on one side on the bottom left of group photo look like asbestos wall sheeting pieces.

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, Mike from North Queensland said:

can not help with the fossils but the flat sheet pieces with the dimpled surface on one side on the bottom left of group photo look like asbestos wall sheeting pieces.

I think there were still lycopsids around in the lower Jurassic. The pattern looks like periderm or cortex. 

[Jon C]

9 hours ago, Mike from North Queensland said:

can not help with the fossils but the flat sheet pieces with the dimpled surface on one side on the bottom left of group photo look like asbestos wall sheeting pieces.

Mike is absolutely right!  Those 4 pieces in the lower left corner with the dimples are asbestos!  Throw them away immediately.  They are not fossils.  I lived in London for a number of years, and that stuff was all over the Thames river bed.  I also found it on the beaches at Lyme Regis and Charmouth.  Apparently several decades ago, the government in its infinite wisdom decided dumping asbestos into the water was an acceptable way to get rid of it given the danger is when the particles are airborne. 

 

If you're still at Lyme Regis, I found better ammonites to the east of Charmouth in the mud flows that jut out into the ocean at low tide.  I also found some stuff between Lyme Regis and Charmouth closer to Charmouth.  I did not find much in Lyme Regis proper although the museum there is great.  I would highly recommend driving over to Charmouth, parking at the lot near the water, crossing the little bridge to the east of the lot, and heading east down the beach.  You'll need to walk about 0.5 km+ down the beach to where you see the large mud flows jutting out of the cliffs -- you'll be pretty far away from the crowds but people will be picking over the mud flows.  Wear shoes that stay on your feet b/c that stuff is sharp.  I found some excellent small pyritized ammonites there and the beaches littered with thousands of belemnite pieces.  

 

As for your finds, I think the bone and tooth are both modern.  British water ways and beaches are littered with both from all the animal butchering for hundreds of years.  I did find fossil horse teeth and some fossil ice age bones in the Thames, but for every fossil I found, I came across 50 modern bones or teeth (typically cow, horse sheep, and goat).  Fossil horse teeth are typically black/brown and flat.  Yours is white and likely a modern cow tooth.  The bone I don't know... maybe horse?

Edited August 29, 2023 by Jon C
typo