Strange creatures rising from the clay
by Matt Shardlow from on (#RBR4)
Tilton Cutting, Leicestershire The railway excavators clawed through the soil and unearthed millions of ammonites
In 1870 workmen who were excavating a cutting through the edge of Colborough Hill for a new railway line exposed a multitude of strange creatures that had not seen the light of day for more than 200m years.
The workmen clawed through loose clayey mudstones and unearthed millions of ammonites, from the size of a palm to a fingernail, bearing ribbed coils variously sculpted, with sharp dense parallel ribs or gentle ripples.
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