Every collector endeavours to make his collection as complete as possible. Whatever your collection object, that goal becomes easier to achieve when you specialize on a certain sub-group. For me, this is ammonites, liassic ammonites, Yorkshire liassic ammonites. I do stray from that path once in a while and get tempted , e.g. when a species cannot be found in Yorkshire at all, for example Prodactylioceras davoei , or can be found in another preservation from another location, like the beautiful white Marston Magna Asteroceras, Xipheroceras and Promicroceras, but that is really only the exception.
“Yorkshire liassic ammonites” is still large enough a topic to collect a lifetime and not find every species there is to find. Cycles in erosion patterns can mean that certain beds high up in the cliff will only fall every x years, and even then you have to be on the right spot at the right time. Some beds may not be accessible at all anymore, because they have been exploited a long time ago or it is forbidden to collect there anymore. Some species may be that rare that only very few can be found at all. From the entries in my little red book I have estimated that from October 1989 until April 2012 I spent 450 days collecting, spending our holidays in Yorkshire. Conservatively estimating 4 hours per day, I get around 1800 hours. Put this together with my other estimate that I´ve achieved to collect about 50 % of the known species so far, then you know what is possible when you do not live close to location…
Does the above all sound very apologetic to you ? OK, I admit it : I do buy fossils, especially ammonites from time to time. Nothing to be ashamed of, really. I´m just human.
When I buy, it´s usually from well-known UK dealers like
- Mike Marshall, Yorkshire Coast Fossils at http://www.yorkshirecoastfossils.co.uk/
- Martin Rigby & Andy Cowap, fossilsdirect at http://www.fossilsdirect.co.uk/
- Byron Blessed, Natural Wonders / Fossils UK at http://www.fossils-uk.com/Welcome.html
(Disclaimer : I do not get or expect any preferrential treatment from these guys to mention them here, so they enjoy a rare spot of free advertisement now !)
Here are a few of the ammonites I bought from them in the past :
Paltechioceras planum, 8 cm, from fossilsdirect
This beautiful Paltechioceras planum from the Holderness Coast came from fossilsdirect. It is a species that should occur at Robin Hoods Bay as well, but I´ve never found it there yet.
The ribbing on this species is not as dense as on Paltechioceras tardecrescens.
The ribbing on this species is not as dense as on Paltechioceras tardecrescens.
Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) semicelatum, 7 cm, from Yorkshire Coast Fossils
This irresistible (I´m only human !) Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) cf. crosbeyi came from Yorkshire Coast fossils. Those thick variants of the Dactylioceras (Ortodactylites) genus are ever so rare, this is a particularly nice specimen and also very nicely prepped.
Dactylioceras sp, 8 cm, from Natural Wonders / Fossils UK
This Dactylioceras sp. (we´ll leave it there for the moment, that´s another story !) came from Natural Wonders / Fossils UK. It is a very interesting Dactylioceras variant with strong ribbing,
we think it comes from the ovatum beds and the type of nodule it´s in seem to confirm that- this is one I´d like to check against some museum holotypes.
I do sometimes buy from ebay as well, very occasionally you can get a bargain there, but you have to know what to look for, and bidding for really good stuff can sometimes be fierce, exceeding the price that you would pay in a shop, simply because the group of bidders is global.
AndyS
Yorkshire Ammonites (and other fossils ) revisited 