Brandon Gets Busy with His Ammonites

Fossil experts and enthusiasts got together over the last weekend of September  to celebrate the contribution to palaeontology and the Earth sciences in general of Mary Anning.  Our chum Brandon Lennon was busy showcasing his fossil preparation skills at the Lyme Regis Museum over the weekend.

Many Anning

Young fossil hunters got the chance to prepare and polish their very own ammonite fossil under the supervision and guidance of Brandon, he kindly sent us in a press cutting from a local paper that reported on the weekend’s events.   Titled “Fossil Fish and Sharks”, the weekend’s festivities celebrated the role of Mary Anning with a series of family orientated activities, fossil displays, talks and lectures.

There were a number of rare fossil fish that had been discovered in and around the Lyme Regis area on display at the Lyme Regis Museum, which sits on the site of Mary Anning’s former home.

Brandon has found numerous vertebrate fossil remains including fish whilst on his regular fossil finding walks out onto the beaches that surround the picturesque Cob at Lyme Regis.

To learn more about Brandon’s fossil hunting walks: Brandon Lennon’s Guided Fossil Walks.

 Brandon Helping with the Ammonite Polishing

Helping young palaeontologists – ammonite polishing at the museum.

Picture credit: Local newspaper/Brandon Lennon

Brandon Makes the Headlines

We love the way Brandon has inserted his name in biro into the newspaper’s headline…cheeky.

Commenting on the work of the staff involved, a spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:

“It is important to remember the contribution made to palaeontology by people such as Mary Anning and her friend Elizabeth Philpot.  Hopefully, events such as this one will do a lot to encourage and motivate the next generation of scientists.”

The town of Lyme Regis also holds a fossil festival, one of the biggest events along the “Jurassic coast” of southern England, sources in the town have reported to Everything Dinosaur that the next festival is likely to take place in late May 2014.  With Brandon and his friends likely to play a big role, it is worth putting a note in your diary.

For replicas and models of iconic prehistoric animals associated with Lyme Regis such as ammonites, belemnites and ichthyosaur replicas: Models of Early Jurassic Animals and Dinosaurs (CollectA).