The North Yorkshire coast, southwards from Staithes to Port Mulgrave, is famous for the range and quality of Jurassic (200-145 mya) fossils that are constantly eroded from its crumbling cliffs. These are a few of the many fossils I saw during a visit last week.
An ammonite....
...... another ammonite ......
..... another one ...
....... and even more ammonites. There are hundreds of them, which makes this a popular area with fossil collectors.
These ........
..... and this are (I think) brachiopods.
Fossilised oyster shells......
..... and scallops Pseudopecten ...
.... which are the most distinctive bivalve mollusc fossils along this stretch of coast.
Fossilised U-shaped burrows of a shrimp-like animal called Rhizocorallium.
A narrow seam of jet - fossilised remains of a tree similar to the present-day monkey puzzle.
.... and finally, there's always a strong possibility that you can strike gold here. Unfortunately it's fool's gold, iron pyrites, but when it encrusts fossils like this one it is rather beautiful.
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