Lmst

#b%C3%A9lemnite

Out comes my reconstruction of a 'living' #belemnite replica to tackle a frequently asked #FossilFriday question. " What exactly are these pointy shaped fossils ". So, with my replica and a pointy shaped #fossil to hand from my collection. Reading out and rehearsing from the brilliant Discovering #Geology section of the British Geological Survey website. I open up those curious minds 😁

From the brilliant BGS website

"Belemnites were marine animals belonging to the phylum Mollusca and the class Cephalopoda. Their closest living relatives are squid and cuttlefish.They had a squid-like body but, unlike modern squid, they had a hard internal skeleton."

" In the animal’s tail, the skeleton formed a bullet-shaped feature sometimes referred to as a guard, ( pictured here indicated by the red arrows ) but more correctly termed a rostrum (plural: rostra). These are the parts that are normally found as fossils. "

#sharedknowledge really does go along way. Feel free to pass it on when faced with the same #pauseforthought #fossiling question ⁉️

My specimen shown here is an excellent example of the belemnite known as Cylindroteuthis puzosiana. Featuring its characteristic elongated, bullet-shaped guard with fine preservation, they are rare at this size.

From the Oxford Clay Formation, Oxfordian stage of the #Jurassic period. Approximately 157-163 million years old.

Perks of doing marine PSA (particle size analysis) is that I VERY occasionally come across a nice fossil .... like this sizeable Belemnite fossil 🦑 #FossilFriday #MarineScience #MarineLife #Prehistoric #Fossil #Belemnite #Cephalopod

A hand holding a Belemnite fossil between 2 fingers. It is grey and long and bullet shaped.

The giant belemnite Megateuthis catching a Hypsocormus.

#megateuthis #hypsocormus #belemnite #cephalopod #palaeontology #jurassic #watercolour #watercolourart #animalart #wildlifeart #marineanimals #marinelife

A watercolour painting of a belemnite catching a fish.

But, as the tide dropped, the day brightened, and once the chalk beds were exposed I did get #echinoid, #belemnite and #coral #fossils from the exposure.

And later learned that the next bay up yielded a baby mammoth tooth the day before ... It could have been me!