Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs, meaning 'wing reptiles' are not technically dinosaurs, although they lived at the same time as dinosaurs in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Because they were adapted for flight their bones were very light and fine, and for this reason fossil remains are scarcer.

The pterosaur fossils in Hastings Museum relate to Criorhyncus, meaning 'ram snout'. This had a distinctive keel-shaped upper jaw, which probably acted as a balance when the creature dived into water to catch fish. The wingspan of Criorhyncus was up to 5 metres, and it appears from recent discoveries in Russia that it had a furry body.

Crocodile and Turtle fossils on display at Hastings Museum
Detailed View

Crocodiles

These creatures have changed very little since the end of the Jurassic period, although there were early forms of crocodile as far back as 200 million years ago. Unlike their contemporaries, the dinosaurs, crocodiles did not disappear at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Crocodiles were common in the swamps of the Wealden area. The fossil remains in Hastings Museum relate to the Goniopholis crocodile, 2 to 3 metres long and probably similar in appearance to the American alligator Alligator Mississippiensis. The Museum has a magnificent fossil of a crocodile head with several of the teeth still in place. This was found in the early years of the 20th century near Battle, and has been used as the basis for the lifelike model on display.

Model of Turtle and Crocodile on display at Hastings Museum
Detailed View

Turtles

Like crocodiles, turtles originated early in the evolution of complex life forms. They have changed even less than crocodiles since their appearance in the Triassic period. Unlike their modern descendants early turtles could not retract their head, limbs and tail. The model in the Museum is based on the Central American River Turtle, which is considered to be the closest to the fossil remains in the Hastings collection. These remains include the cast of the inside of the carapace and some of the scutes of plates from the shell.

A section of scales of Lepidotus Mantelli
Detailed View

Complete fossil of Lepidotus Mantelli, Fairlight
Detailed View

Model of Hybodus and Lepidotus on display at Hastings Museum
Detailed View

Fish

In the Hastings Museum display can be seen a reconstruction of a lake bed in Lower Cretaceous times, showing two of the most typical fish of the period, the Hybodus shark, and Lepidotus Mantelli. The hybodus was an ancestor of the modern shark. It had sharp pointed teeth and a characteristically grooved spine. Lepidotus was a fish common to Europe, Africa and North America. It had a distinctive covering of thick, shiny scales; the Museum has several good specimens which show clearly the shape of the head and body.

The salinity of the lakes in the Wealden basin varies at different periods from freshwater to brackish to salt marsh. These variations can be charted by plant remains e.g. Equisetum, which only survived in a freshwater environment. Some of the most common fossils to be found are of small water creatures - brachiopods, bivalves and gastropods.

Other common mollusc fossils that sometimes appear on Hastings beach, but originate in the chalk cliffs to the East and West, are cephalopods. These include ammonites and belemnites, where the shell is divided into several chambers. Living examples of cephalopods are squid, octopus and cuttlefish.

Other Animal Fossils

Other animal remains from the Dinosaur period found in this area include fossils of the Ichthyosaur. This fish-like reptile was a similar shape to the modern-day porpoise. The Museum also has pieces of the vertebrae of Plesiosaurus, the 'ribbon reptile', so-called because of its extremely long neck and small head. It was an aquatic animal and had paddle type limbs to propel itself through the water.

A few pieces of Megalosaurus have also been found in Hastings. This dinosaur, whose name means 'big reptile', was the first dinosaur to be named and scientifically examined by Dean William Buckland in Oxfordshire in 1824. Unlike Iguanodon, Megalosaurus was carnivorous. It was 6 metres in length with heavy back limbs, smaller forelimbs and a large head on a thick short neck with lots of sharp teeth.