Identify a Fossil
Found a fossil and not sure what it is? Submit photographs and details of your find to the London Basin Palaeontological Society, and our team will help you identify it.
Clear photographs from several angles, together with information about where the specimen was found and its approximate size, will give us the best chance of making an identification.
Before you submit
To help us give you the best possible identification, please have the following information ready:
- Clear photographs of the fossil from several angles
- Photograph the fossil on a plain black background where possible, using good, even lighting and avoiding strong shadows or glare
- A photograph showing the whole specimen
- Close-up photographs of any teeth, bone surfaces, ornamentation or other distinctive features
- Something for scale, ideally a ruler
- The approximate size of the specimen
- Where the fossil was found, as accurately as you are comfortable providing
- Whether it was found loose on the surface, in a nodule, in a cliff, in situ, or in loose sediment
- Any rock or matrix still attached to the specimen
- Any preparation, cleaning or repair that has already been carried out
- Any identification you have already considered, even if you are unsure
- Any other information you think may be useful