Fossils in t'Hills
@fossilsinthills.bsky.social
A non-profit group of palaeontologists and science educators telling the hidden stories of the fossils of northern England!
https://fossilsinthills.weebly.com/
https://fossilsinthills.weebly.com/
We had an excellent time yesterday at Otley Science Festival, talking to visitors about Pholiderpeton - Bradford's Carboniferous tetrapod!
Lots of people successfully pieced back together the jumbled up skeleton of this incredible fossil and explored a range of other fossils from the Coal Swamps!
Lots of people successfully pieced back together the jumbled up skeleton of this incredible fossil and explored a range of other fossils from the Coal Swamps!
November 16, 2025 at 5:42 PM
We had an excellent time yesterday at Otley Science Festival, talking to visitors about Pholiderpeton - Bradford's Carboniferous tetrapod!
Lots of people successfully pieced back together the jumbled up skeleton of this incredible fossil and explored a range of other fossils from the Coal Swamps!
Lots of people successfully pieced back together the jumbled up skeleton of this incredible fossil and explored a range of other fossils from the Coal Swamps!
A busy couple of days for Fossils in t' Hills.
This evening we'll be discussing Carboniferous fossil trees with GeoLancashire from 19:15 (geolancashire.org.uk/events/)
Then tomorrow we're taking our Pholiderpeton puzzles to Otley Science Festival!
#FossilFriday
This evening we'll be discussing Carboniferous fossil trees with GeoLancashire from 19:15 (geolancashire.org.uk/events/)
Then tomorrow we're taking our Pholiderpeton puzzles to Otley Science Festival!
#FossilFriday
November 14, 2025 at 4:31 PM
A busy couple of days for Fossils in t' Hills.
This evening we'll be discussing Carboniferous fossil trees with GeoLancashire from 19:15 (geolancashire.org.uk/events/)
Then tomorrow we're taking our Pholiderpeton puzzles to Otley Science Festival!
#FossilFriday
This evening we'll be discussing Carboniferous fossil trees with GeoLancashire from 19:15 (geolancashire.org.uk/events/)
Then tomorrow we're taking our Pholiderpeton puzzles to Otley Science Festival!
#FossilFriday
Friday 14th November, 19:15 at Hanson UK’s Ribblesdale cement works in Clitheroe.
Come along to find out about the undisputed giants of the Carboniferous and the forgotten fossil forests of the North West!
geolancashire.org.uk/events/
Come along to find out about the undisputed giants of the Carboniferous and the forgotten fossil forests of the North West!
geolancashire.org.uk/events/
November 13, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Friday 14th November, 19:15 at Hanson UK’s Ribblesdale cement works in Clitheroe.
Come along to find out about the undisputed giants of the Carboniferous and the forgotten fossil forests of the North West!
geolancashire.org.uk/events/
Come along to find out about the undisputed giants of the Carboniferous and the forgotten fossil forests of the North West!
geolancashire.org.uk/events/
We're back at the Otley Science Festival!
This year, we're unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton, Bradford's Carboniferous swamp monster!
Come along on Saturday 15th from 10:00 to the Otley Courthouse and see if you can make head or tail out of these bones!
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Cliffe Castle
📍 Bradford
This year, we're unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton, Bradford's Carboniferous swamp monster!
Come along on Saturday 15th from 10:00 to the Otley Courthouse and see if you can make head or tail out of these bones!
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Cliffe Castle
📍 Bradford
November 7, 2025 at 8:31 PM
We're back at the Otley Science Festival!
This year, we're unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton, Bradford's Carboniferous swamp monster!
Come along on Saturday 15th from 10:00 to the Otley Courthouse and see if you can make head or tail out of these bones!
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Cliffe Castle
📍 Bradford
This year, we're unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton, Bradford's Carboniferous swamp monster!
Come along on Saturday 15th from 10:00 to the Otley Courthouse and see if you can make head or tail out of these bones!
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Cliffe Castle
📍 Bradford
A spooky fossil for Halloween!
The Carboniferous swamps of the north of England were full of creepy crawlies... This is one of them, a spider-like creature called Mesotarbus.
📍 Westhoughton
🏛️ Manchester Museum
📷 GB3D Fossils
#FossilFriday
The Carboniferous swamps of the north of England were full of creepy crawlies... This is one of them, a spider-like creature called Mesotarbus.
📍 Westhoughton
🏛️ Manchester Museum
📷 GB3D Fossils
#FossilFriday
October 31, 2025 at 10:30 AM
A spooky fossil for Halloween!
The Carboniferous swamps of the north of England were full of creepy crawlies... This is one of them, a spider-like creature called Mesotarbus.
📍 Westhoughton
🏛️ Manchester Museum
📷 GB3D Fossils
#FossilFriday
The Carboniferous swamps of the north of England were full of creepy crawlies... This is one of them, a spider-like creature called Mesotarbus.
📍 Westhoughton
🏛️ Manchester Museum
📷 GB3D Fossils
#FossilFriday
We're heading back to Cliffe Castle!
Join us on October 28th from 11:00 for a day of Carboniferous activities.
With your help we'll be reconstructing a coal forest and unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton.
Don't forget to bring along your own fossils for identification!
#FossilFriday
Join us on October 28th from 11:00 for a day of Carboniferous activities.
With your help we'll be reconstructing a coal forest and unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton.
Don't forget to bring along your own fossils for identification!
#FossilFriday
October 24, 2025 at 6:01 PM
We're heading back to Cliffe Castle!
Join us on October 28th from 11:00 for a day of Carboniferous activities.
With your help we'll be reconstructing a coal forest and unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton.
Don't forget to bring along your own fossils for identification!
#FossilFriday
Join us on October 28th from 11:00 for a day of Carboniferous activities.
With your help we'll be reconstructing a coal forest and unjumbling the bones of Pholiderpeton.
Don't forget to bring along your own fossils for identification!
#FossilFriday
Autumn has descended on Yorkshire this week, the leaves have started to fall.
Most leaves rot away leaving nothing behind, but not this one!
The leaf became encased in tufa, a carbonate mineral formed by springs, to leave a perfect impression.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Craven Museum
Most leaves rot away leaving nothing behind, but not this one!
The leaf became encased in tufa, a carbonate mineral formed by springs, to leave a perfect impression.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Craven Museum
October 17, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Autumn has descended on Yorkshire this week, the leaves have started to fall.
Most leaves rot away leaving nothing behind, but not this one!
The leaf became encased in tufa, a carbonate mineral formed by springs, to leave a perfect impression.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Craven Museum
Most leaves rot away leaving nothing behind, but not this one!
The leaf became encased in tufa, a carbonate mineral formed by springs, to leave a perfect impression.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Craven Museum
We post a lot about the Carboniferous swamp plant fossils - and for good reason, as these are incredibly important to both human history and science in Northern England!
These swamps were also home to a range of other creatures, including lots of fish and sharks...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
These swamps were also home to a range of other creatures, including lots of fish and sharks...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
October 3, 2025 at 6:45 PM
We post a lot about the Carboniferous swamp plant fossils - and for good reason, as these are incredibly important to both human history and science in Northern England!
These swamps were also home to a range of other creatures, including lots of fish and sharks...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
These swamps were also home to a range of other creatures, including lots of fish and sharks...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
Tiny fossil cogs?
Not quite, these are single segments (ossicles) of a crinoid stem.
In life, soft tissues would have run through the central hole. The radial groves and ridges would have prevented the sections of the stem from twisting in currents.
📍 Wensleydale
#FossilFriday
Not quite, these are single segments (ossicles) of a crinoid stem.
In life, soft tissues would have run through the central hole. The radial groves and ridges would have prevented the sections of the stem from twisting in currents.
📍 Wensleydale
#FossilFriday
September 26, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Tiny fossil cogs?
Not quite, these are single segments (ossicles) of a crinoid stem.
In life, soft tissues would have run through the central hole. The radial groves and ridges would have prevented the sections of the stem from twisting in currents.
📍 Wensleydale
#FossilFriday
Not quite, these are single segments (ossicles) of a crinoid stem.
In life, soft tissues would have run through the central hole. The radial groves and ridges would have prevented the sections of the stem from twisting in currents.
📍 Wensleydale
#FossilFriday
Some fossils leave an impression on you - or on the rock!
We spotted this impression of a spiriferid brachiopod on our way up Pen-y-ghent over summer. If you look carefully you can also see a crinoid ossicle.
We're hoping for the rain to stop so we can get back out into the hills!
#FossilFriday
We spotted this impression of a spiriferid brachiopod on our way up Pen-y-ghent over summer. If you look carefully you can also see a crinoid ossicle.
We're hoping for the rain to stop so we can get back out into the hills!
#FossilFriday
September 19, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Some fossils leave an impression on you - or on the rock!
We spotted this impression of a spiriferid brachiopod on our way up Pen-y-ghent over summer. If you look carefully you can also see a crinoid ossicle.
We're hoping for the rain to stop so we can get back out into the hills!
#FossilFriday
We spotted this impression of a spiriferid brachiopod on our way up Pen-y-ghent over summer. If you look carefully you can also see a crinoid ossicle.
We're hoping for the rain to stop so we can get back out into the hills!
#FossilFriday
Even in poor visibility on top of Ingleborough, we still found fossil plants!
This is in the Millstone Grit at the very topmost part of the peak.
#FossilFriday
This is in the Millstone Grit at the very topmost part of the peak.
#FossilFriday
September 12, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Even in poor visibility on top of Ingleborough, we still found fossil plants!
This is in the Millstone Grit at the very topmost part of the peak.
#FossilFriday
This is in the Millstone Grit at the very topmost part of the peak.
#FossilFriday
Today's #FossilFriday post is a Sea Monster and some Seashells...
Why? Because tomorrow afternoon we are back at the fantastic Land of Iron Museum to take people on a tour of the Jurassic ocean!
🐬 The ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus from Loftus
🐚 A shell-bed of the bivalve Bositra
Why? Because tomorrow afternoon we are back at the fantastic Land of Iron Museum to take people on a tour of the Jurassic ocean!
🐬 The ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus from Loftus
🐚 A shell-bed of the bivalve Bositra
September 5, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Today's #FossilFriday post is a Sea Monster and some Seashells...
Why? Because tomorrow afternoon we are back at the fantastic Land of Iron Museum to take people on a tour of the Jurassic ocean!
🐬 The ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus from Loftus
🐚 A shell-bed of the bivalve Bositra
Why? Because tomorrow afternoon we are back at the fantastic Land of Iron Museum to take people on a tour of the Jurassic ocean!
🐬 The ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus from Loftus
🐚 A shell-bed of the bivalve Bositra
Some fossils really stand out from the rock.
We spotted this vibrant solitary coral in the Yoredale series of rocks near Pateley Bridge.
#FossilFriday
We spotted this vibrant solitary coral in the Yoredale series of rocks near Pateley Bridge.
#FossilFriday
August 29, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Some fossils really stand out from the rock.
We spotted this vibrant solitary coral in the Yoredale series of rocks near Pateley Bridge.
#FossilFriday
We spotted this vibrant solitary coral in the Yoredale series of rocks near Pateley Bridge.
#FossilFriday
This trilobite has a very cute name - Dindymene - at less than 1cm across it's more like Diddymene!
At 440 million years old this fossil is from some of the oldest rocks in the Yorkshire Dales, and appears to have been slightly distorted over the years...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Sedgwick
📷 GB3D Fossils
At 440 million years old this fossil is from some of the oldest rocks in the Yorkshire Dales, and appears to have been slightly distorted over the years...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Sedgwick
📷 GB3D Fossils
August 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This trilobite has a very cute name - Dindymene - at less than 1cm across it's more like Diddymene!
At 440 million years old this fossil is from some of the oldest rocks in the Yorkshire Dales, and appears to have been slightly distorted over the years...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Sedgwick
📷 GB3D Fossils
At 440 million years old this fossil is from some of the oldest rocks in the Yorkshire Dales, and appears to have been slightly distorted over the years...
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Sedgwick
📷 GB3D Fossils
Picture in your mind a shark tooth... We bet this isnt the shape you were thinking of!
The shark Ptychodus had a 'pavement' of these strange teeth for crushing hard-shelled prey. Ptychodus fossils have been found all over the world, including from Hessle near Hull.
🏛️ Sedgwick Museum #FossilFriday
The shark Ptychodus had a 'pavement' of these strange teeth for crushing hard-shelled prey. Ptychodus fossils have been found all over the world, including from Hessle near Hull.
🏛️ Sedgwick Museum #FossilFriday
August 15, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Picture in your mind a shark tooth... We bet this isnt the shape you were thinking of!
The shark Ptychodus had a 'pavement' of these strange teeth for crushing hard-shelled prey. Ptychodus fossils have been found all over the world, including from Hessle near Hull.
🏛️ Sedgwick Museum #FossilFriday
The shark Ptychodus had a 'pavement' of these strange teeth for crushing hard-shelled prey. Ptychodus fossils have been found all over the world, including from Hessle near Hull.
🏛️ Sedgwick Museum #FossilFriday
Crinoidal limestone – limestone made of crinoids – what more needs saying?
#FossilFriday
📍 Hebden, near Grassington
#FossilFriday
📍 Hebden, near Grassington
August 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Crinoidal limestone – limestone made of crinoids – what more needs saying?
#FossilFriday
📍 Hebden, near Grassington
#FossilFriday
📍 Hebden, near Grassington
For #YorkshireDay and #FossiFriday we're celebrating the giant ammonites of Yorkshire!
From the foreshores of Redcar with their monstrous Arietites, to the oolite of Malton with its mighty Perisphinctes - and beyond!
Post your giant Yorkshire ammonite finds in the comments!
🏛️ Whitby Museum
From the foreshores of Redcar with their monstrous Arietites, to the oolite of Malton with its mighty Perisphinctes - and beyond!
Post your giant Yorkshire ammonite finds in the comments!
🏛️ Whitby Museum
August 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
For #YorkshireDay and #FossiFriday we're celebrating the giant ammonites of Yorkshire!
From the foreshores of Redcar with their monstrous Arietites, to the oolite of Malton with its mighty Perisphinctes - and beyond!
Post your giant Yorkshire ammonite finds in the comments!
🏛️ Whitby Museum
From the foreshores of Redcar with their monstrous Arietites, to the oolite of Malton with its mighty Perisphinctes - and beyond!
Post your giant Yorkshire ammonite finds in the comments!
🏛️ Whitby Museum
Lurking at the bottom of the limestone in the dales is a rather impressive conglomerate – a rock made up of pebbles of other rocks.
This piece was pulled out of a cave by divers and contains a few
gastropods in amongst the pebbles – can you spot them?
#FossilFriday
📍 Austwick
This piece was pulled out of a cave by divers and contains a few
gastropods in amongst the pebbles – can you spot them?
#FossilFriday
📍 Austwick
July 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Lurking at the bottom of the limestone in the dales is a rather impressive conglomerate – a rock made up of pebbles of other rocks.
This piece was pulled out of a cave by divers and contains a few
gastropods in amongst the pebbles – can you spot them?
#FossilFriday
📍 Austwick
This piece was pulled out of a cave by divers and contains a few
gastropods in amongst the pebbles – can you spot them?
#FossilFriday
📍 Austwick
This weekend is Lancaster Dino Fest! But it's not just dinosaurs that had scales!
Come along tomorrow to St Nic's Arcade Lancaster to find out about the ancient scaly inhabitants of Lancashire and help us build a Carboniferous coal swamp!
🏛️ Manchester Museum
#Fossil Friday
Come along tomorrow to St Nic's Arcade Lancaster to find out about the ancient scaly inhabitants of Lancashire and help us build a Carboniferous coal swamp!
🏛️ Manchester Museum
#Fossil Friday
July 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This weekend is Lancaster Dino Fest! But it's not just dinosaurs that had scales!
Come along tomorrow to St Nic's Arcade Lancaster to find out about the ancient scaly inhabitants of Lancashire and help us build a Carboniferous coal swamp!
🏛️ Manchester Museum
#Fossil Friday
Come along tomorrow to St Nic's Arcade Lancaster to find out about the ancient scaly inhabitants of Lancashire and help us build a Carboniferous coal swamp!
🏛️ Manchester Museum
#Fossil Friday
With Lancaster Dino Fest just around the corner, we're highlighting fossils from Lancashire!
Much of Lancashire is underlain by Carboniferous rocks, this lovely fern was found in one of the many coal mines from the area.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ British Geological Survey
📷 GB3D Type Fossils
Much of Lancashire is underlain by Carboniferous rocks, this lovely fern was found in one of the many coal mines from the area.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ British Geological Survey
📷 GB3D Type Fossils
July 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
With Lancaster Dino Fest just around the corner, we're highlighting fossils from Lancashire!
Much of Lancashire is underlain by Carboniferous rocks, this lovely fern was found in one of the many coal mines from the area.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ British Geological Survey
📷 GB3D Type Fossils
Much of Lancashire is underlain by Carboniferous rocks, this lovely fern was found in one of the many coal mines from the area.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ British Geological Survey
📷 GB3D Type Fossils
Digging a railway in N England in the 1800s usually resulted in finding huge fossil trees!
These pair of Sigillaria were unearthed in 1837 in the outskirts of Manchester.
On July 12th we're exploring the fossil trees of the NW at Lancaster Dino Fest, come along to find out more!
#FossilFriday
These pair of Sigillaria were unearthed in 1837 in the outskirts of Manchester.
On July 12th we're exploring the fossil trees of the NW at Lancaster Dino Fest, come along to find out more!
#FossilFriday
June 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Digging a railway in N England in the 1800s usually resulted in finding huge fossil trees!
These pair of Sigillaria were unearthed in 1837 in the outskirts of Manchester.
On July 12th we're exploring the fossil trees of the NW at Lancaster Dino Fest, come along to find out more!
#FossilFriday
These pair of Sigillaria were unearthed in 1837 in the outskirts of Manchester.
On July 12th we're exploring the fossil trees of the NW at Lancaster Dino Fest, come along to find out more!
#FossilFriday
With this hot weather it seems appropriate to post about the tropical inhabitants of the Jurassic Seas of Yorkshire.
This little chlamys (a scallop) was found in a stream near Kirkbymoorside, although during the Jurassic it would have been a shallow tropical sea.
#FossilFriday
This little chlamys (a scallop) was found in a stream near Kirkbymoorside, although during the Jurassic it would have been a shallow tropical sea.
#FossilFriday
June 20, 2025 at 9:20 PM
With this hot weather it seems appropriate to post about the tropical inhabitants of the Jurassic Seas of Yorkshire.
This little chlamys (a scallop) was found in a stream near Kirkbymoorside, although during the Jurassic it would have been a shallow tropical sea.
#FossilFriday
This little chlamys (a scallop) was found in a stream near Kirkbymoorside, although during the Jurassic it would have been a shallow tropical sea.
#FossilFriday
Heading to Redcar tomorrow for the Fossil Walks with the Yorkshire Fossils Festival team?
Before you head down to the beach, cast your eyes to the pavements. The promenade along the front is paved with some incredible Carboniferous fossils in black limestone.
#FossilFriday
Before you head down to the beach, cast your eyes to the pavements. The promenade along the front is paved with some incredible Carboniferous fossils in black limestone.
#FossilFriday
June 13, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Heading to Redcar tomorrow for the Fossil Walks with the Yorkshire Fossils Festival team?
Before you head down to the beach, cast your eyes to the pavements. The promenade along the front is paved with some incredible Carboniferous fossils in black limestone.
#FossilFriday
Before you head down to the beach, cast your eyes to the pavements. The promenade along the front is paved with some incredible Carboniferous fossils in black limestone.
#FossilFriday
This lovely fossil is a sapling of a giant plant similar to those in Bradford's parks. It's photographed upside down to clearly show the 4 branching roots that all of these plants have - unfortunately the one closest has broken off and is missing.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
June 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
This lovely fossil is a sapling of a giant plant similar to those in Bradford's parks. It's photographed upside down to clearly show the 4 branching roots that all of these plants have - unfortunately the one closest has broken off and is missing.
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
#FossilFriday
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
Some creatures are windows into the past - others are just windows...
This fossil is a fenestrate bryozoan. The fenestrate part of the name derives from the Latin for window, and refers to the grid-like skeleton of these filter-feeding colonial organisms.
📍 Thorpe
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
#FossilFriday
This fossil is a fenestrate bryozoan. The fenestrate part of the name derives from the Latin for window, and refers to the grid-like skeleton of these filter-feeding colonial organisms.
📍 Thorpe
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
#FossilFriday
May 30, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Some creatures are windows into the past - others are just windows...
This fossil is a fenestrate bryozoan. The fenestrate part of the name derives from the Latin for window, and refers to the grid-like skeleton of these filter-feeding colonial organisms.
📍 Thorpe
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
#FossilFriday
This fossil is a fenestrate bryozoan. The fenestrate part of the name derives from the Latin for window, and refers to the grid-like skeleton of these filter-feeding colonial organisms.
📍 Thorpe
🏛️ Gallery Oldham
#FossilFriday