Psiloceras planorbis

This image is of a Psiloceras planorbis (Sowerby, 1824) ammonite fossil. The animal existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in southern England. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Hildoceras bifrons

This image is of a Hildoceras bifrons (Bruguière, 1789) ammonite fossil. The animal existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in England. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Ophioderma egertoni

This image is of Ophioderma egertoni (Broderip, 1840) starfish fossil. Its new name is Palaeocoma milleri (Phillips, 1829). This animal existed in the Cretaceous Period. Fossil were found at Mary Anning's fossil hunting grounds: Lyme Regis, England.

Picture taken at Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia Florence Italy (Università degli Studi di Firenze) in August 2019.

Aspidites thomasii Plant Fossil

This image is of an Aspidites thomasii plant fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Gristhorpe Bay, Scarborough, England, United Kingdom. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Williamsonia gigas Plant Fossil

This image is of a Williamsonia gigas (Carruth.) plant fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Whitby, England, United Kingdom. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Nilsonia compta Plant Fossil

This image is of a Nilsonia compta (Phill.) plant fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Scarborough, England, United Kingdom. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Todites williamsoni Plant Fossil

This image is of a Todites williamsoni (Brongn, 1828) plant fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Scarborough, England, United Kingdom. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Cladophlebis denticulata Plant Fossil

This image is of a Cladophlebis denticulata (Brongn, 1828) plant fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Scarborough, England, United Kingdom. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Heliolites murchisoni Coral Fossil

This picture is of a Heliolites murchisoni (Milne Edwards & Haime 1851) coral fossil. It existed during the Silurian period. The fossil was found in Dudley, England. Fossil was on display at the Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) on August 2024.

Tylocidaris clavigera Sea Urchin Fossil

Tylocidaris clavigera (Mantell, 1822) cast of a sea urchin fossil found in the Coniacian of the White Chalk subgroup in England.  The creature existed in the Cretaceous Period (Late Turonian to Santonian).  Cast is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as of June 2023.

The genus was named by Pomel in 1883.

I photographed this same specimen in 2010 and posted about it. It is interesting how camera technology as changed. My cell phone picture taken in 2023 is far from perfect. I might start letting it save the RAW images and see how they compare.

https://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2010/08/tylocidaris-clavigera.html

Plate of Promicroceras Ammonite Fossils

Picture of plate of Promicroceras (Spath, 1925) ammonite fossils. Found in Charmouth, Dorset, England. Creatures existed in the Lower Jurassic Period (190 million years ago; upper Sinemurian age). Common ammonite found in the Black Ven Marl on the coasts of Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

Genus named by Leonard Frank Spath (1882-1957) in 1925.

Thanks to Dale for letting me take this picture.

Termnodontosaurus platyodon Fossil

 

Termnodontosaurus platyodon (Conybeare, 1822) ichthyosaur fossil was found in 1811 by Joseph Anning (older brother to Mary Anning). She would find the rest of this creature in November 1812 (length 17 feet). The skull fossil was illustrated by Professor Everard Home of the Royal College of Surgeons in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1814 (he called it Proteosaurus).  At first it was thought to be a fossil crocodile. The Annings sold it to Henry Hoste Henley for £23. The genus was named by Richard Lydekker and the  species by William Daniel Conybeare. 

The fossil was found on a beach between Charmouth and Church Cliffs Lyme Regis, Dorset, England and dates to the Lower Jurassic Period (203-194 million years ago).

It was on display at the Natural History Museum of London England in August 2016. They acquired it from Bullock's Museum in Piccadilly in 1819 by Charles Konig for £47. I got to see this fossil in person in August 2016.

Learn more at this informative blog called Incertae Sedis:

https://incertaesedisblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/12/goodbye-temnodontosaurus-hello-proteosaurus/

Reference:

Home, E. (1814). Some account of the fossil remains of an animal more nearly allied to fishes than any of the other classes of animals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 104(2), 571-577.

Conybeare, W.D. (1822). Additional notices on the fossil genera Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus. Transactions of the Geological Society of London, Series 2, 1, 103-123.

Nicholson, H.A., & Lydekker, R. (1889). A Manual of Palaeontology for the Use of Students with a General Introduction on the Principles of Palaeontology (3rd ed.). Volume II. William Blackwood and Sons.

Pentacrinites briareus Crinoid Fossil

 

Today's fossil is from the old hunting grounds of the famous collector Mary Anning. This picture is of a Pentacrinites briareus (Miller, 1821) crinoid (sea lily). It was found in Lyme Regis, England. The fossil dates to the Jurassic Period (206-144 million years ago).

The fossil was on display in the Evolving Planet section of The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago Illinois, USA as of August 2020. Accession number is P1892a.

The genus Pentacrinites was named by Blumenbach in 1804.

Mary Anning's Grave

On a sunny and windy August day in 2016, I visited a coastal town called Lyme Regis in the county Dorset, England. This area is part of what is known as the Jurassic Coast which stretches approximately 150 km from Exmouth to Studland Bay.

An area well known for its Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Period fossils. From 1799 till her death in 1847 Lyme Regis was home to fossil hunter/palaeontologist Mary Anning. Her remains now buried in the graveyard of St. Michael the Archangel church along with that of her brother Joseph and three Anning children who died in infancy. She is known for finding Ichthyosaurs and Plesiosaurs along with flying reptiles, fish, ammonites, and other marine fossils.

I include closeup pictures from the base of the tombstone where visitors have left ammonite and belemnite fossils.

A short walk from the grave one can look out over coast line and see the cliffs that still bear fossils like the ones she used to venture out to collect.

Portrait of Mary Anning at British Museum

Source is Wikipedia Commons

It is possible later in 2020, a drama entitled Ammonite starring Kate Winslet as Mary Anning will be released. See IMDB page link below:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7983894/

If you visit the Find A Grave web site page for Mary Anning photo section you can see an April 2019 image. The stone has cleaned and the engraved text enhanced. The contrast is amazing.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34949489/mary-anning/photo

Dactylioceras tenuicostatum Ammonite Fossil

This image is of a Dactylioceras tenuicostatum (YOUNG et BIRD, 1822) fossil. When collected, the fossil was originally labeled Ammonites annulatus (J. SOWERBY, 1819). It was found in England. The fossil dates to the Jurassic Period. It was displayed at Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France.  Image taken August 2009.

Echinocorys Echinoderm Fossil

This image is of a sea urchin fossil called Echinocorys.  The shell once consisted of calcite but has since been replaced by crystalline silica. This animal lived in the Cretaceous Period. The fossil was found at Sidmouth, Devon, England.

This specimen was on display August 2016 in Natural History Museum of London, England.

Zamia gigas Plant Fossil

This image is of a Williamsonia (aka Zamia) gigas cycad fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Scarborough, England, United Kingdom.


Picture taken at Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia Florence Italy (Università degli Studi di Firenze) in August 2019.

Learn more at Wikipedia.

Gingko huttoni Plant Fossil

This image is of a Gingko huttoni plant fossil. The plant existed in the Jurassic Period. Fossil was discovered in Scarborough, England, United Kingdom. Gingko is considered a living fossil by Western science once it was found thriving in an area of central China.

Picture taken at Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia Florence Italy (Università degli Studi di Firenze) on August 2019.

Hildoceras bifrons Ammonite Fossil

A few posts ago, I wrote about the snake stone ammonite. This ammonite is associated with St. Hilda of Whitby, Yorkshire, England. The American palaeontologist Alpheus Hyatt (1838-1902) named an ammonite genus Hildoceras (Hyatt, 1876) after her.

Above is an image of an Hildoceras bifrons (Bruguière, 1789) ammonite fossil. It dates to the Jurassic Period (Toarcien) and was found in Newcastle, England. Specimen was under glass in a room with a lot of natural light so there is glare on the upper part of the fossil.

Fossil displayed at Muséum National D'Historie Paris, France on August 2016.

Gyracanthus formosus Fish Spine

The spine fossil of a Gyracanthus formosus fish (front pectoral fin). Not much is known about this fish as all that is found of remains are spines. Fossil was found Newsham Colliery of Northumberland England. This fish existed in the Middle Carboniferous Period (325 million years ago).

Fossil on display at American Museum of Natural History in New York City USA as of July 2018.