I was actually pointed in his direction by a fossil shop owner in Lyme Regis because I was looking for help with finding decent reference material for identifying Isurolamna affinis anteriors. However, the initial chat with David turned into an email exchange, followed by an invite to meet him at his home to discuss all things relating to Beltinge, including my website.
Our meeting was wide ranging, really interesting, and I came away with a lot of ideas (and papers to read).
Some of those ideas mean changes to the website which I've already started rolling out. The main ones [All confirmed by David] are:
- The Beltinge Fish Bed is not 54 million years old but 58. (Mine isn't the only website that's been quoting 54).
- This means it belongs to the Palaeocene not the Eocene as I've been saying.
- The only Striatolamia in the Palaeocene is Striatolamia striata. S. macrota, which is likely descended from striata, is strictly Eocene. Using 'macrota' is a common mistake in naming Beltinge Striatolamia's. The only sources I can find using the correct name are scientific papers.
- Likewise, Carcharias hopei is an Eocene species, and so I should actually be using the name Gluekmanotodus heinzelini. Again, many websites make the same mistake when referring to the fossils at Beltinge.
- In terms of the geology at Beltinge, I'm now using the most up-to-date Formation names i.e. The Woolwich & Reading is now called the Upnor Formation; and the Oldhaven is now known as the Harwich Formation.