Identifying fossils - a guide
Once you've found a fossil, it's always nice to know a bit about it - what it was and how it lived.
There are a few ways to work this out, and this guide (a work in progress!) aims to introduce a few useful resources.
The internet
Visual keys
The University of Kentucky, of all places, offers a useful visual guide to identifying common fossils. Most of the fossils commonly found in Britain are listed here, and it's a great place to start!
Wikipedia
Wikipedia's coverage of palæontology is not excellent, but the online encyclopaedia is a good place to start.
A quick trawl through the fossils category will throw up the likely groups, and most major articles are reasonably well illustrated.
For a more visual approach, the collection of images at Wikimedia commons is also worth a quick scan, to see if you can spot something familiar.
Specific sites
There are a wealth of sites out there helpful for classifying your fossil to a more precise level. Most of these are no much good - unreliable or with limited content!
We're slowly finding the good ones, listed here: we'd welcome your suggestions, too! Use the feedback form at the bottom to let us know what we've missed.
- Trilobites - a guide, and photographs of many species
- Crinoids - Lots of photos, and some useful diagrams of stems.
More recommendations coming soon.
Books
A complete picture
The "bible" of British fossil identification comes in the form of a trilogy offered by the Natural History Museum. The "British fossils" series is ordered by time period and contains a well illustrated and definitive guide to almost all the fossils you're likely to encounter on these isles.
- British Cenozoic Fossils (1975). Paperback, vi + 132 pp. ISBN 0113100248
- British Mesozoic Fossils (1983). Paperback, vi + 209 pp. ISBN 0113100256
- British Palæozoic Fossils (1975). Paperback, vi + 203 pp. ISBN 0113100264
Accessible reads
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Simon & Schuster's Guide to Fossils (1987). Paperback, 320 pp. ISBN 0671631322
A concise and readable introduction with colour images, with brief details of most fossil groups, lacking detailed information.
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Discovering Fossils (1998). Paperback, 212 pp. ISBN 0811728005
A good guide to all aspects of fossil hunting, with in-depth details of vertebrate groups. A recommended introduction.
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Fossils: A golden guide (2001). Paperback, 160 pp. ISBN 1582381429
Illustrated in full colour, with an overview of the major fossil groups and a history of life on Earth.
Ideal for children
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Eyewitness books: Fossil (2004). Hardback, 72 pp. ISBN 0756606829
Recommended for children from approx. 8-12. A great collection of images and simple, imagination-capturing descriptions.
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Usborne guide: Rocks and Fossils (1993). Paperback, 32 pp. ISBN 0881106909
A short, fun and simple guide for younger kids.
People
Most geology museums are staffed by people with a working knowledge of fossils, who are usually more than happy to take a look at fossils and offer their opinion. You may also be able to find something that looks similar just by looking at the museum exhibits! Many museums will be loosely arranged by date, so if you know the approximate age of your fossil, this will be a headstart.
You could also try asking us. We're in the process of initiating a system where you can post your images and experts can come and identify them, and in the mean time, you can send us images here.
And almost too obvious to suggest, it is always worth asking your friends and family first!
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