The London Clay Formation represents a unique marine geological formation which dates from the Early Eocene (Ypresian) spanning a time period 50-54 million years ago. Representing a warmer marine environment (subtropical/tropical), this formation showcases an incredibly diverse array of fossil flora and fauna that can be found perfectly preserved in 3D including sea snakes, turtles, crocodiles, birds, crabs, lobsters and sharks. One of the most diverse group of fossils found in the London Clay is that of the Ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii) of which a minimum of 80 species have already been named, but there are many more new discoveries being made every year. 

This Project:

The idea of this non-commercial project is simple – To provide a visual resource (using photos, 3D scans and Micro-CT scans) of exceptional specimens held in both Public and Private collections to help collectors and researchers better identify and compare fish specimens from the London Clay. 

The launch of this visual resource in Sept 2024 represents the first phase of this project. Most holotype specimens of named London Clay fish have now been photographed and surface scanned and feature throughout this website. These have supplemented by additional exceptional specimens found by local collectors as well as additional museum specimens. For each species featured, in time, I’ll be adding more commentary on key characteristics as well as highlighting some modern equivalents to make these prehistoric fish a little easier to visualise what they might have looked like. The hope is that this will be a constantly evolving resource as new specimens are found and species are named.

Acknowledgements:

This has been a wonderful collaboration between both academics, public collections and private collectors and as such there are many people that need thanking for their continued help and support. 

The public institutions who have been enormously helpful in providing access to their collections include:

• Natural History Museum, London – Emma Bernard (Curator & Collections Manager, Fossil Fish) and Andrew Knapp (Scientific Associate, NHM)
• Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford – Emily Swaby (Collections Assistant, Earth Collections) and Emma Nicholls (Collections Manager, , Earth Collections)
• Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. Paris – Prof Gael Clement – Researcher & Collections Manager
• Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences – Matt Riley (Collections Assistant, Palaeontology
• Yorkshire Natural History Museum – For access to Micro-CT scanning
• Maidstone Museum – Pernille Richards, Collections Officer

The following are a list of just some of the experienced and private collectors that I’d like to thank for providing access to their collections and their support throughout this project:

• Dan Hogburn
• Fred Clouter
• Gary Walker
• David & Martin Raynor
• Tony Vale
• Tony Mitchell
• Thomas Wells
• Dave Savage 
• Marie Jones
• James Black
• Jack Charles-Smith
• Evan Veitch
• Sam Harris-Goldstone

Finally, I’d also like to thank a number of academics and researchers that have supported the project and given excellent guidance on specimen identification and taxonomy. A big thank you to the following:

• Dr Zerina Johanson – Merit Researcher, NHM 
• Prof Matt Friedman – Director and Curator, Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan
• James Andrews – PhD graduate, University of Michigan
• Dr Seabourne Rust – Freelance Palaeontology researcher, New Zealand
• Rodrigo Otero – Palaeontologist, Universidad de Chile

How can you help?

New fossil fish are regularly being found in the London Clay exposures so if you’ve found something you think is pretty special, then please contact me on the details below. Also, if you already have a collection of London Clay fish and you know of exceptional examples that could feature, then please do contact me as well. 

Contact Info:

If you’d like to get in contact with me (Tom Sermon), please feel free to contact me on tom@palaeo-art.com

Copyright information:

All images and scans have been taken by Tom Sermon who retains the ownership of the copyright. Published photographs of specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London or from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History have been done so under a CC-BY license. 3D and Micro-CT scans of specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London have been done so under a CC-BY-NC license.