Editing Whitby (section)

===Fossils and snakestones===
[[File:Snakestone Whitby.jpg|thumb|A snakestone from near Whitby, with head carved onto a specimen of ''Dactylioceras commune'' (Sowerby, 1815), Whitby Formation, Toarcian Stage, late Lower Jurassic. Specimen in the Natural History Museum, London.]]
The town is a coastal stretch known as the Dinosaur Coast or the Fossil Coast, the area is around {{convert|35|mi|km}} long and stretches from [[Staithes]] in the north and south to [[Flamborough]]. At Whitby dinosaur footprints are visible on the beach.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Sir Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/britishregionalg0000kent/page/52 |title=British Regional Geology. Eastern England from the Tees to the Wash |publisher=HMSO |year=1980 |isbn=0-11-884121-1 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/britishregionalg0000kent/page/52 52–60]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Buhaenko |first=Helen |date=28 March 2009 |title=Coast watch: Tracing the footsteps of dinosaurs and Dracula in Whitby |work=[[The Independent]] |publisher=[[Independent News & Media|INM]] |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/coast-watch-tracing-the-footsteps-of-dinosaurs-and-dracula-in-whitby-1655861.html |access-date=22 July 2011 |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111191102/http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/coast-watch-tracing-the-footsteps-of-dinosaurs-and-dracula-in-whitby-1655861.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The rock strata contain [[fossil]]s and organic remains including jet. Fossils include the petrified bones of an almost complete crocodile and a specimen of [[plesiosaurus]] measuring {{convert|15|ft|6|in|m}} in length, and {{convert|8|ft|5|in|m}} in breadth was discovered in 1841. The [[Rotunda Museum]] in Scarborough has a comprehensive collection of fossils from the area.

Smaller fossils include numerous species of [[ammonite]]s, or "snake stones", from the [[Whitby Mudstone Formation]] (Alum Shale Member) and at Whitby Scar [[Nautilus (genus)|nautiloids]] in the lower beds of the [[Lias Group|lias]] strata. The town's folklore (similar to [[Keynsham]]'s in Somerset) has it that fossils were once living serpents that were common in the area. This was until the 7th&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD when Anglo-Saxon Abbess [[Hilda of Whitby|St Hilda of Whitby]] (614–680), first had to rid the region of snakes. She did so by casting a spell that turned them to stone and then threw them from the cliff tops.

Local collectors and dealers in fossils often carved heads on ammonites to increase curiosity value and improve sales. Since 1935, the Whitby Coat of Arms incorporates three snakestones due to this folklore. The [[Hildoceras]] genus of ammonite is named in St Hilda's honour.<ref name=tde/><ref>{{cite web |year=2011 |title=''Hildoceras bifrons'' {{pipe}} Natural History Museum |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-the-day/evolution/hildoceras-bifrons/index.html |access-date=14 August 2011 |archive-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802064551/http://www.nhm.ac.uk//nature-online//species-of-the-day//evolution//hildoceras-bifrons//index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>