Anjana Khatwa explains why the Jurassic Coast is a Mecca for fossil hunters
The rocks of the the Jurassic Coast record an incredible 185 million years of Earth’s history, charting ancient environments from arid deserts and deep murky seas to dinosaur-infested swamps.
Locked inside the cliffs are fossils that provide valuable insights into these lost worlds. The richness and diversity of life in these ecosystems, combined with exceptional preservation, makes this coastline one of the best places in the world for fossil hunting.
The abundance of fossils found on the beaches is also due to coastal erosion, where incoming waves batter the cliffs, releasing all manner of geological treasures to be discovered.
Mary Anning was a Victorian palaeontologist who lived in Lyme Regis and spent her life fossil hunting along these beaches. Her discoveries, such as a partial skeleton of a Dimorphodon (flying reptile) and marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, would transform our understanding of ancient life on Earth.
Main image © Getty Images