|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Protected Sites |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Writhlington SSSI, Somerset |
| |
| The Writhlington SSSI consists of material
from an old coal mine dump. In the late 1980s, through co-operation
between the site owner, local geological and conservation groups and
the enthusiasm of key palaeontological specialists, it was agreed
to set aside 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil in a special,
fenced conservation area and the site became a geological nature reserve.
The result has been one of the most successful and innovative, palaeontological
site-based conservation initiatives of recent years. |
| |
| After more than a decade of coordinated
collecting from Writhlington, more than 1,400 insect specimens have
been recovered from the site and placed in key museum collections.
This collecting was not carried out by specialist researchers alone
but by amateur geologists of all ages, who were given careful guidance
about what to look for on the spoil heaps. |
| |
| The most common insect finds have been
cockroaches, including cockroach nymphs. The most exciting find has
probably been the world's earliest known Damsel fly. In addition,
ancestral grasshoppers and crickets, various early spiders, horseshoe
crabs, bits of millipede and a single sea scorpion have also been
recovered. |
| |
|
Organised fossil collecting at Writhlington
SSSI and geological nature reserve. |
|
| Photo: Colin Prosser, Natural England |
|
|
| |
|
