FOSSILS OF THE LONDON CLAY

Birds, Snakes & Mammals, London Clay

Birds, mammals, snakes and crocodiles — these do not immediately spring to mind when you think of marine deposits — but these are some of the wonderful fossil specimens that make the London Clay so interesting to collect from.

The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 Ma) age which outcrops in the southeast of England. 

The exposures are well-known for their variety of fossil fauna. The fossils from the lower Eocene sections tell us about a moderately warm, tropical to subtropical climate.

It was with the greatest pleasure that I came across some of the wonderful fossil specimens found by Martin Rayner and his father over the better part of 40-years worth of dedicated collecting. These excellent examples of the London Clay fauna hail from Sheppey, Seasalter and Tankerton. 

You may recall that Martin is a co-author of London Clay Fossils of Kent and Essex.  The book is a collectors' guide to the fossil animals and plants of the London Clay from river and coastal exposures in Kent and Essex. It is known locally as the Fossil Bible.

This superb book is published by the Medway Fossil and Mineral Society and was written by four of the Society members, David Rayner, Tony Mitchell, Martin Rayner and Fred Clouter. 

It the essential field guide for use by both beginners and the more experienced — and likely the definitive work on the subject for many years to come. 

The book includes when to collect, equipment, cleaning, preparation and preservation of specimens, sieving, storage and cataloguing, geology and a list of fourteen collecting sites  — six with site location maps, access details and collecting techniques.

There is a hugely useful identification section and comprehensive terminology for the invertebrates, vertebrates and plants of the London Clay. Here you'll find all of the yummy foraminifera, bryozoa, worms, trace fossils, corals, barnacles, lobsters, stomatopods, crabs, insects, brachiopods, bivalves, scaphopods, gastropods, nautili, coleoids, crinoids, echinoids and starfish. Also included are the sharks, rays, chimaera, bony fish, otoliths, turtles, snakes, crocodiles, birds, mammals and plant material.

If you fancy picking up a copy, here is the UKGE link: https://www.ukge.com/en-ie/London-Clay-Fossils-of-Kent-and-Essex__p-3291.aspx

Photo One: Martin Rayner: Snake, Bird and Mammal finds from the London Clay, mostly from Sheppey and Seasalter, UK

Photo Two: Martin Rayner: A rare skull from the remains of the sea snake Palaeophis toliapicus.