Fossils from the Lower Lias of the Dorset Coast
Geoscientist 21.10 November 2011
Lyme Regis and adjacent parts of the Jurassic Coast are among the most famous fossil localities in England. Two centuries of intensive collecting have yielded numerous spectacular ammonites, vertebrates and other fossils of high scientific importance and often of great beauty. Amazingly, this is the first relatively comprehensive account of the fossils of this area. 28 specialists cover almost every group, from trace fossils and foraminiferids (not exactly field fossils!) to coprolites and dinosaurs. Several hundred species are described and illustrated on 78 high-quality plates, with many important specimens adequately illustrated for the first time.
I was, however, rather disappointed by the ammonite chapter. It is a comprehensive summary, but with some quite common species illustrated by rather poor specimens. These compare unfavourably with the well-preserved and well-prepared specimens offered for sale and in some museum collections (and in some cases I can collect better specimens in an hour on the beach). An opportunity has been missed here.
A chapter on ‘previous palaeontological work’ provides interesting non-geological information on prominent Victorian and later collectors, including Thomas Hawkins (with ‘a serious but mysterious personality disorder’) and the Earl of Enniskillen; the British Museum deducted £25 from their payment for his collection for specimens thrown into a river en route by thieves! The chapter surprisingly omits more recent prolific collectors such as J W Jackson and Martin Foster, and recent important finds.
A ‘promotional’ chapter on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site sits slightly uneasily within the book; very remarkably it does not cite The Collecting Code, the aspect most relevant to this book (see www.jurassiccoast.com). A glaring weakness is the effective absence of a lithostratigraphic framework (only 3 ½ pages, compared to 17 pages of ammonite biostratigraphy). W D Lang’s bed numbers are cited throughout the book, and related minutely to ammonite biostratigraphy, but there is only the briefest lithological summary and no outcrop maps, even of major units. Reference is made to relevant publications, but one is stated to be out of print, and that cited for ‘good summary sections’ costs £90 - this is not the way to encourage stratigraphically constrained collecting!
Production quality is mostly high, but a number of minor errors in the text, and one poor and pixelly figure, suggest some haste in the final stages of production. This is however much more than a field guide. Despite imperfections it is essential for anyone interested in Lower Jurassic palaeontology.
Reviewed by Chris King
Bridport
FOSSILS FROM THE LOWER LIAS OF THE DORSET COAST - FIELD GUIDES TO FOSSILS NO. 13
ALAN R LORD and PAUL G DAVIS (eds)
PUBLISHED BY: THE PALAEONTOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4443-3774-7 436 pp
List price: £18.00
www.palass.org