11 teleost caudal vertebrae, possibly Xiphiorhynchus sp.
60 Teleost vertebrae
Reptiles
3 Palaeophis toliapicus (Owen 1841) sea snake vertebrae
4 Trionyx sp.; indet, turtle carapace fragments and limb bones
Birds
7 Indeterminate bird limb bone fragments
Mammals
Teeth occur
Blocks of shelly sandstone have been collected from the beach. Similar blocks may be
collected from dredged heaps dumped on the beach in front of Languard Fort, Suffolk.
Red Crag: In addition to the Lower Tertiary fossils, Red Crag fossils may also
occasionally be collected from the beach. These include highly polished, usually black
coloured, reworked sharks teeth and ray palate fragments, lumps of mineralised whale
bone, and shell fragments. Finds include.
Sharks
8 Cosmopolotodus hastalis Agassiz (1843) shark
2 Otodus obliquus Agassiz 1843 shark
some Very rolled sharks' teeth
Rays
4 Aetobalis irregularis Agassiz 1843 ray
11 Myliobatis spp. May
Reptile
2 Crocodile scutes. Heavily phosphatised and polished
Mammal
Common Whalebone fragments. Heavily mineralised.
3 Haustator incrassata (J. Sowerby 1814) gastropod
Jurassic: Reworked Jurassic fossils, presumably derived from imported rock blocks
used in the sea defences, or shipped in as ballast, have also been found on the beach.
These include
2 Pycnodont teeth. Fish palate fragments
1 Hybodus reticularis (Agassiz 1837) shark
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 48, September 2005 11