Yorkshire fossil hunter: Rare crocodile bones discovered near Whitby over 180 million years old

As soon as he posted his latest find online he was getting offers from the US and Hong Kong to buy a rather remarkable set of ancient bones.
Alexandra Wood
By Alexandra Wood

Senior reporter

Published 24th Feb 2024, 06:00 BST

But Yorkshire fossil hunter Mark Kemp says: "I'd rather sell one of my children - I'm not joking."

He counts the discovery of Jurassic crocodile bones from a beach somewhere near Whitby - he won't say where exactly - as his best in more than a decade of searching.

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The fossil, which has taken over 40 hours to prepare, shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones, parts of the jaw bone and the bony plates on its back known as scutes.

Mark Kemp, of Hull, known as 'The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter' an expert in finding, collecting and preparing fossils for the last 10 years. He's also offers guided walks, along the Yorkshire coast and owns a large assortment of fossil which he found and prepared during his many travels. Just before Christmas 2023 Mark, was out fossil hunter along the Yorkshire Coastline near Whitby North Yorkshire, where he discovered a large bone assembly from a Jurassic Crocodile Fossil which lived on earth over 180-million-years ago. The fossil which has taken over 40 hours to prepare shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones, parts of the jaw bone and scutes. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 8th February 2024.Mark Kemp, of Hull, known as 'The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter' an expert in finding, collecting and preparing fossils for the last 10 years. He's also offers guided walks, along the Yorkshire coast and owns a large assortment of fossil which he found and prepared during his many travels. Just before Christmas 2023 Mark, was out fossil hunter along the Yorkshire Coastline near Whitby North Yorkshire, where he discovered a large bone assembly from a Jurassic Crocodile Fossil which lived on earth over 180-million-years ago. The fossil which has taken over 40 hours to prepare shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones, parts of the jaw bone and scutes. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 8th February 2024.
Mark Kemp, of Hull, known as 'The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter' an expert in finding, collecting and preparing fossils for the last 10 years. He's also offers guided walks, along the Yorkshire coast and owns a large assortment of fossil which he found and prepared during his many travels. Just before Christmas 2023 Mark, was out fossil hunter along the Yorkshire Coastline near Whitby North Yorkshire, where he discovered a large bone assembly from a Jurassic Crocodile Fossil which lived on earth over 180-million-years ago. The fossil which has taken over 40 hours to prepare shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones, parts of the jaw bone and scutes. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 8th February 2024.

Mark came across the fossil in a piece of limestone rock wedged between two large boulders: "I was on my way back to the van when I stumbled across this quite large boulder.

"I had a look on the edges and could see a load of bones and instantly knew it was a crocodile.

"I bought it home to my workshop and spent 30 to 40 hours cleaning it with pnuematic tools and revealed some lovely crocodile bones.

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"We've got a huge rib, we've got some legbones, a lovely vertabra and all these lovely plates with holes called scutes which are like the modern day armour-plating you see in crocodiles.

Mark Kemp, of Hull, known as 'The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter' an expert in finding, collecting and preparing fossils for the last 10 years. He's also offers guided walks, along the Yorkshire coast and owns a large assortment of fossil which he found and prepared during his many travels. Just before Christmas 2023 Mark, was out fossil hunter along the Yorkshire Coastline near Whitby North Yorkshire, where he discovered a large bone assembly from a Jurassic Crocodile Fossil which lived on earth over 180-million-years ago. The fossil which has taken over 40 hours to prepare shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones and part of the jaw bone. Pictured Mark, holding another fossil which he found last year a lower jaw bone from a juvenile Ichthyosauria, that lived in waters that covered much of continental Europe during the early Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago. They lived in both shallow and deep waters and possessed long thin jaws with numerous teeth for preying on a range animals, for example octopus, squid and cuttlefish. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 8th February 2024.Mark Kemp, of Hull, known as 'The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter' an expert in finding, collecting and preparing fossils for the last 10 years. He's also offers guided walks, along the Yorkshire coast and owns a large assortment of fossil which he found and prepared during his many travels. Just before Christmas 2023 Mark, was out fossil hunter along the Yorkshire Coastline near Whitby North Yorkshire, where he discovered a large bone assembly from a Jurassic Crocodile Fossil which lived on earth over 180-million-years ago. The fossil which has taken over 40 hours to prepare shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones and part of the jaw bone. Pictured Mark, holding another fossil which he found last year a lower jaw bone from a juvenile Ichthyosauria, that lived in waters that covered much of continental Europe during the early Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago. They lived in both shallow and deep waters and possessed long thin jaws with numerous teeth for preying on a range animals, for example octopus, squid and cuttlefish. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 8th February 2024.
Mark Kemp, of Hull, known as 'The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter' an expert in finding, collecting and preparing fossils for the last 10 years. He's also offers guided walks, along the Yorkshire coast and owns a large assortment of fossil which he found and prepared during his many travels. Just before Christmas 2023 Mark, was out fossil hunter along the Yorkshire Coastline near Whitby North Yorkshire, where he discovered a large bone assembly from a Jurassic Crocodile Fossil which lived on earth over 180-million-years ago. The fossil which has taken over 40 hours to prepare shows vertebrae, ribs, legs bones and part of the jaw bone. Pictured Mark, holding another fossil which he found last year a lower jaw bone from a juvenile Ichthyosauria, that lived in waters that covered much of continental Europe during the early Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago. They lived in both shallow and deep waters and possessed long thin jaws with numerous teeth for preying on a range animals, for example octopus, squid and cuttlefish. Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date: 8th February 2024.

"All in all it's a really nice assembly. We get a lot of ichthyosaur and plesiosaur, but crocodile remains are incredibly rare."

Rocks on Yorkshire’s coast are older in the north and the 35-mile stretch from Staithes to Flamborough is aptly known as the Jurassic Coast.

Jurassic fossils, famously found in Lyme Regis in Dorset, can be found in places like Runswick, Robin Hood’s Bay and Boggle Hole.

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Around 200 million years ago, a huge ocean covered Europe which teemed with marine life. Some of the creatures ended up preserved in mudstones and limestones, and these are found today as ammonites, and less commonly, bones of marine reptiles.

The crocodile would have been around 5m long and Mark says it would have spent most of its time "mostly resting and chilling out and feasting" on ammonites and squid-like belemnites.

Mark, who says he has a "very understanding" wife, has a garage full of fossils and has a workshop where he prepares fossils, improving their appearance and helping preserve them.

He also runs Instagram and YouTube accounts, titled “The Yorkshire Fossil Hunter'” where he videos his fossil hunting exploits.

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As a child he had a passion for digging stuff up and did a lot of metal detecting.

He went out with a couple of friends fossil hunting and didn't look back: "It's really rewarding if you are out on the beach and turn up something incredible like the crocodile bones.

"It's just about being out in nature - sometimes I don't see another person all day."

Related topics:WhitbyHong KongYorkshireEurope