Coral
The calcite skeleton of this coral dissolved, leaving a mould in the surrounding rock, and a cast of its original shape.
Fossil Finder Database 2022
Stereognathus
The tiniest fossils The name of this mammal-like creature means ‘twin jaw’. Stereognathus used to be classified as a mammal, but some scientists think it’s reptile. This tooth is a lower jaw right molar, and is the only Jurassic or Cretaceous mammal specimen in our database. The Purbeck Beds are particularly famous as a source of…
Sponge
The soft chalk surrounding this fossil has been lost, leaving a hard fossil that closely resembles living coral colonies.
Sponge
This fossil shows a relationship between a flint nodule and the branching sponge inside. See how the shape of each sponge branch is followed by the nodule.
Ichthyosaur
Broken back This is a beautifully-preserved juvenile ichthyosaur, almost certainly from the Lower Jurassic around Lyme Regis. The jaw is missing, probably washed away or damaged before the specimen was found and recovered. Ichthyosaurs have a body that is flattened vertically creating an oval section. That is why they are so often preserved lying on…
Plesiosaur
Make your own plesiosaur Here is a string of plesiosaur vertebrae, probably found as a scattered or ‘disarticulated’ assemblage of bones. More often than not, dead animals are broken, eaten and smashed up. Perfect specimens are the exception rather than the rule – so palaeontologists have to reassemble the bones in order to understand the…
Sea Urchin
Here is a beautiful Upper Cretaceous sea urchin showing the lovely detailed structure of the shell. The rounded lumps, or tubercles, are where the spines of the animal were attached to the shell. Such well-preserved specimens are not often found.
Sea Urchin
Here are two sea urchins from Lower Cretaceous period. They are both encrusted with small oyster shells, which is commonly seen.
Sea urchin
This is a small crushed early Jurassic sea urchin. While it’s not unusual to find isolated spines of these urchins, it is extremely rare to find the shell or ‘test’ as well. This is one of only a few known near-complete specimens of this species.