A slab of rock recovered during the re-building of a stone wall in the English Lake District was found to contain exceptional fossils of a marine orthocone nautiloid Cephalopod. This was an ancient predatory marine animal with a long cone or shell (orthocone) the animal living in the largest end. The inside of several of the fossils is exposed showing the buoyancy system and other features. The brachiopod Orthis is also present, as is the post-mortem occupancy of one of the fossils by orbiculoid brachiopods. The rock type is probably a siliciclastic sandstone formed probably from re-worked volcanic ash. Large fossils in this kind of material are extremely rare. Research is still continuing into the fossils and comments and thoughts are welcome.
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Keywords:brachiopods, brachiopods, cephalopods, cumbria, fossils, geology, lake district, national trust, nautiloids, orbiculoid, ordovician, orthis, orthocone, palaeontology, sandstone, shells, silurian
