It’s time for the next Chapter in Nightjar’s series.
Chapter 3 – East Hill: Fauna of the Past
Fossil hunting!
I’ve had more luck in other trips, but it’s always easy to find some fossils, especially of ammonites. These are Early Jurassic sediments, laid nearly 200 million years ago. In primary school, I remember participating in a few school trips to this hill. I either imagined or saw a classmate discover a fish fossil, but the rock was too big to carry with us. We went to call the teacher and the rest of the group but when we came back, we couldn’t find the rock we had seen. At least that’s how we told the story afterwards and it still occasionally comes up in get-together dinners. Did that really happen or was it the result of the fertile imagination of a group of 7-year-olds? I’m afraid we’ll never know, but I always remember this story when I visit this place and I’m still secretly searching for that mysterious fish fossil. Sadly, I didn’t find it this time either.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
Brachiopod fossils are quite common here too, but when I got to the place where I usually look for them it was getting windy and cold and I decided it was time to go home. So here is a photo of some small brachiopod fossils I have collected over the years, photographed outside of their place of origin.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
In the next chapter we will reach the top of the hill and discover what fauna has replaced the marine animals of the past.
Fascinating! Thanks, Nightjar.
I’m a fossil hunter myself and that’s a lot of good finds in one afternoon. I think you should keep looking for that fish -- kids are often more observant than adults.
voyager, thank you. I will keep looking. It’s weird because I can still sort of see it in my head, and when I google “Early Jurassic fish fossil” I see some photos that are reminiscent of the image I have in my head. Kids may be more observant, but sadly they don’t seem to understand the concept of “you stay here looking at it while I go call the teacher”.
Mm, I love finding a good fossil, but I’ve never come across anything as impressive as these. Hope the fish is somewhere in your future!