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My Favourite Fossil: David Attenborough

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By: Sir David Attenborough (Guest)
Posted under Geology

Sir David Attenborough recalls his first fossil find.

12 Jun
2008
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You need the Flash Player (version 7 or higher) to view this clip - download Flash. http://podcast.open.ac.uk/open2media/fossildetectives/fd_david_attenborough.flv Copyrighted The Open University

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The first fossil I remember seeing was in the gravel outside our front door in Leicester, gravel that I imagine must have come from one of the local gravel pits.

And in it was a thing which the local people called a Devil’s Toenail, which is in fact a primitive oyster called Gryphaea, but they were quite common. But there it was lying amongst just normal little bits of pebble and sand, and it did seem extraordinary, a shell made out of stone. I remember it very well.

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Sir David Attenborough (Guest)

Sir David Attenborough is a broadcaster and naturalist. He has been responsible for some of the most memorable nature television across a number of decades - from Life On Earth to Life In The Undergrowth - and, in an earlier life as controller of BBC Two, introduced snooker to television.

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Comments on: "David Attenborough"

Archive Comments
02 Sep 200808:53

This thead contains comments from users about David Attenborough.

Archive Comments
15 Feb 200916:26

att fossil detectives,
we think we have found a fossilised hip bone of a dicynodont at clasach quarry in Hopeman Moray in Scotland, the bone is quite large and appears to be fractured,can you please advise we have several other fossil finds if you are interested, hope to hear from you soon
Mairi Lovie

Archive Comments
02 Sep 200808:53

Don't forget - we want to hear about your favourite fossils, too. And if you want to show them to us, why not post a video on the Open University YouTube channel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zA5f_6I19s

Re: Comments on: "David Attenborough"

Archive Comments
02 Sep 200809:30

Hey Simon
Could we post links to our fossil hunting videos on youtube ?

Yes that's fine
Mercia (Moderator)

Article Information

Publication details
Thursday, 12th June 2008
Thursday, 12th June 2008

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• Body text - Copyright: The Open University
• Video - Copyrighted: The Open University

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