Remarkable Dorset Coinicidences

Our sons five and seven year old daughters were with us in Dorset over the October half term. We walked the Jurassic Coast as always but this time added a visit to the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester. During a quiet time at home, the five year old drew entirely unaided and without prompting a beautiful double spiral divided into segments, exactly like an ammonite, but with one important difference; she added the head of a snake. I had recently read Tracy Chevaliers new novel Remarkable Creatures which, factually based, tells the story of the famous 19th Century fossil finder and seller Mary Anning from Lyme Regis. The book reveals the lack of understanding of fossils in the 19th Century: when Lyme Regis locals were asked what ammonites were they always replied "coiled snakes"!

The older grand-daughter returned to Glasgow with a piece of an ammonite found on the beach. She took it to school for "Show and Tell" describing how it was found and what it was. This happened to be the day that a previously unknown fossil creature found near Lyme Regis was announced in the press. The teacher had already decided to discuss fossil finds based on the giant 140 million year old plesiosaur and it followed neatly on from the tiny piece of ammonite.