🦕 What's In My Fossil Box?
Welcome to your fossil box!
Every fossil in this box is 100% genuine and comes from the famous Yorkshire Coast of England.
Most of these fossils lived in an ancient sea around 180–200 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period. Long before humans existed, creatures such as ammonites, ichthyosaurs and marine crocodiles swam in the waters that once covered Yorkshire.
Use this guide to help identify the fossils that may be in your box.
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🐚 Ammonites
Ammonites are the most common fossils found on the Yorkshire Coast.
They were marine animals related to modern squid and octopus and lived inside a coiled shell divided into chambers. In your box you will receive at least one ammonite, various partial specimens and outerwhorls.
How to identify them:
✅ Spiral shape
✅ Ribbed shell
✅ Often found inside rounded grey nodules
Fun fact:
Some ammonites grew larger than a car tyre, while others were no bigger than a coin.
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🦑 Belemnites
Belemnites were squid-like animals that hunted in the Jurassic seas.
The fossil you find is usually the hard internal guard which helped support the animal's body.
How to identify them:
✅ Bullet-shaped
✅ Smooth surface
✅ Often dark brown or black
Fun fact:
Belemnites are sometimes called "thunderbolts" because people once believed they fell from the sky during storms.
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🐚 Bivalves
Bivalves are ancient shellfish similar to modern clams and mussels.
Many lived buried in the seabed while others attached themselves to rocks.
How to identify them:
✅ Two matching shell halves
✅ Growth lines on the shell
✅ Often fan-shaped or oval
Fun fact:
Some Jurassic bivalves looked very similar to species still alive today.
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🪸 Coral
Corals were tiny animals that lived together in colonies and built hard skeletons.
Over millions of years these skeletons became fossilised.
How to identify them:
✅ Lots of tiny holes or tubes
✅ Honeycomb-like patterns
✅ Rough texture
Fun fact:
The Yorkshire Coast was once covered by warm tropical seas where corals could thrive.
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🌳 Fossil Wood
Fossil wood is the remains of ancient trees and driftwood that became buried millions of years ago before gradually turning to stone.
Many pieces found on the Yorkshire Coast washed out to sea during the Jurassic Period before eventually becoming buried in sediment and fossilised.
How to identify it:
✅ Wood grain or growth-ring patterns
✅ Long, branch-like or log-like shapes
✅ Usually dark brown, black or grey
✅ Heavier than modern wood
Fun fact:
Some pieces of fossil wood spent years floating in the Jurassic sea before sinking to the seabed and becoming fossilised.
📸 Look for grain patterns that resemble modern wood. Unlike Whitby Jet, fossil wood is usually duller and less uniformly black.
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🦪 Gryphaea (Devil's Toenail)
Gryphaea was an ancient oyster that lived on the seabed of Jurassic seas millions of years ago.
Its unusual curved shell gives it the nickname "Devil's Toenail."
How to identify it:
✅ Strongly curved lower shell
✅ Thick, chunky appearance
✅ Often resembles a toenail or claw
✅ Distinct growth lines on the shell
Fun fact:
Some people once believed Gryphaea fossils were the toenails of the Devil, which is how they got their famous nickname!
📸 Look for the large curved lower shell. The upper shell is much smaller and is often missing from fossil specimens.
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🤔 Amazing Fossil Facts!
🦴 Every fossil in this box is real! It once belonged to a living thing from a prehistoric world.
🕰️ Most of these fossils are around 180 million years old! That's older than Tyrannosaurus rex.
🦑 Ammonites lived in the sea but are related to modern squid and octopus.
🐚 Some ammonites grew bigger than a car tyre, while others were smaller than a coin.
🌊 The Yorkshire Coast was once covered by a warm tropical sea full of strange creatures.
🎁 No two fossil boxes are exactly the same. Your collection is unique!
🔍 People are still finding new fossils on the Yorkshire Coast today.
🦕 The fossils in this box are so old that dinosaurs had only just begun to appear when some of these creatures were alive!
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🌊 Want to Find Your Own Fossils?
The fossils in this box were collected from the Yorkshire Coast, one of the best places in the UK to find Jurassic fossils.
If you'd like to learn more, check out our beginner's guide to fossil hunting on the Yorkshire Coast:
🎥 How to Find Fossils on the Yorkshire Coast
Watch the video to learn what fossils to look for, where they can be found, and how to stay safe while fossil hunting.
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📸 Still Not Sure About an Item in Your Box?
Don't worry! Some fossils can be tricky to identify.
If you're unsure what you've found, send us a clear photograph and we'll do our best to help.
Thank you for supporting BuyAFossil, and enjoy your fossil collection!
🦴 Happy fossil hunting! 🌊🔨