This man set out to a Yorkshire beach looking for fossils and prehistoric remnants- he never could have imagined what he’d find hiding in plain sight.
The rock, innocuously chilling on the beach, could easily be mistaken for your average everyday pebble. After a little perseverance with a hammer and chisel, however, a beautifully preserved dactylioceras tenuicostatum ammonite was revealed to be hiding inside.
The dactylioceras tenuicostatum ammonite is a type of fossil believed to date back approximately 180 million years. The characteristic spiral design is formed as a result of the ammonite’s shell being shed upon death and often floating to shore on the tides, where they would settle underneath layers of silt.
Due to their aesthetically pleasing appearance and considerable rarity, ammonite fossils are particularly valuable to collectors and geologists.
The degree to which extraordinary remnants of a world long gone are hiding in plain sight is fascinating. Just recently, scientists discovered never-before-seen fossilised tracks in the Grand Canyon, a place thought to be one of the most documented in the world. It just goes to show you, you never know what’s hiding out there in plain sight.
