SMFS Fossil Page
SMFS Fossil Page
The SMFS Fossil page features news and fossils from the South Coast of England, one of the richest and most diverse areas in the country.
The SMFS Fossil Page has generated the most interest from visitors. The campaign to reinstate the SSSI at Lee-on-the Solent has resulted in removal of some of the shingle placed on the beach but the exposures are still not fully uncovered. We wait to see what the winter storms will do. The page will continue to feature the fossils found at Lee, for the moment, as these have been so popular.
Fossils from the Eocene exposures at Lee-on-the-Solent
Just before the beach re-nourishment was started this piece of jaw with two teeth belonging to Anchelophus sp., a primitive horse, was discovered by SMFS member Jean Hole. This extremely rare early mammal fossil has not yet been described and there is no longer any possibility of examining the exposure for further material. Specimen shown X2 actual size
Fish fossils from Lee-on-the-Solent
Sharks and other related species do not have bony skeletons and therefore the only parts usually preserved as fossils are the dentition, such as teeth and mouth plates, and fin spines. Some of the best and rarest are shown below.
 |
Extremely rare shark tooth Notorynchus kempi. Specimen length 30 mm | |
 |
Very fine upper tooth from the shark Jaekotodus trigonalis. Height of specimen 40 mm. | |
 |
Mouth plate from the ray Myliobatus striatus. Usually found as single bars. Left shows the underside detail and right the wearing surface. The bars are discarded as they wear out, growing from back to front. Length 50 mm. |  |
 |
Rare chimeroid (rabbit fish), Edaphodon bucklandi, mouth plate. Plate is from the upper right. Four plates make up upper dentition and two lower. Left shows the entire plate and right detail of the surface structure. Length 45 mm. |  |
Specimens from the collection of Jean Hole
TopProgrammeMineralHomeFeatureLinksNewsFairVisitorsFossil
With grateful thanks to SMFS member, Jean Hole the foremost collector of fossils from Lee-on-the-Solent, who found the Anchelophus and provided the specimens.
©Southampton Mineral & Fossil Society - November 1998