Ammonite Pavement, Monmouth Beach, Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England
© AWL Images/Danita Delimon
Jurassic Coast, England
Travel back 199 million years with a trip to the Jurassic Coast, a 154-kilometre stretch of coastline in southern England where rocks from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods can be found. At this World Heritage site you'll find this stunning fossil display, known as the Ammonite Pavement. Thousands of these fossils are embedded in a limestone ledge at the west end of Monmouth Beach. Although the ammonites resemble snail shells, these are fossils of extinct sea creatures that are more closely related to today’s octopus or squid. Britain’s Natural History Museum notes that the fossil-filled ledge is unique in the world because of the number and size of the ammonites: If you want to see them, timing is everything – the ledge emerges at low tide, and there are more ammonites in large rocks nearby, too.
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