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Story: King Country region

Fossil hunting, Kiritehere beach

The King Country is a fossil hunter's dream location. The west coast and nearby inland areas are rich in fossils because the land is formed from sedimentary rocks. Even the most casual observer cannot fail to notice the marine fossils which fill the rocks of Kiritehere beach,  just south of Marokopa. Watch this video of James Crampton as he exposes fossils – more than 200 million years old – of monotis (a Triassic-period shellfish) within a boulder he found on the beach.  

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How to cite this page

Kerryn Pollock, King Country region – Plants and animals, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/34836/fossil-hunting-kiritehere-beach (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Kerryn Pollock, published 6 December 2011, updated 1 March 2015.

Comments

Dean
22 August 2024
A friend of mine and I have found fossils in the Mangahao river that runs parallel to the Tararua range, with some of the fossils being from North Australia and the Chinese coastline, the question is how did they get into our region and is it possible that a tsunami brought them from the west coast and distributed them only into the Mangahao river system
Steven
10 April 2012
That's for info. My family visited this lovely part of the west coast, lovely drive through the hills from Waitomo. The high light for my kids is finding these fossils, along with some just off the road natural attractions.