Nature has surprising ways to preserve the history of our planet. If the conditions are favorable, almost any biological material can turn into fossil. Also vomiting. An ancient grum of regurgitation dating back to 66 million years ago was discovered on the stevns cliff in Denmark, in Denmarka find as unusual as precious for paleontology.
Within this fossilized mass, experts identified remains of sea liliesmarine creatures related to stars and sea urchins. Second Jesper Milàncurator of the Geological Museum of Faxe, these fragments may have been vomited by a shark or another great marine predator who lived at the end of the Cretaceous.
A natural archive of fossils recognized by UNESCO
The cliff of Stevnsoverlooking the Baltic Sea, consists of limestone rock formed over millions of years with the accumulation of marine sediments. This made the site a real Scrigno di fossilipopulated by the remains of creatures lived in remote periods. Precisely for its immense scientific value, theUNESCO he said it World Heritage Site.
To identify the exceptional finding was Peter Bennickepassionate about paleontology that was exploring the cliff in search of fossils. The vomiting fossil will be kept in Denmark, as it offers Unique information on prehistoric food chainsrevealing unpublished details on the marine predators of the Cretaceous.
The oldest fossilized vomiting? A specimen of 150 million years ago discovered in the USA
Although Stevns’ discovery has aroused great interest, it is not the oldest fossilized vomiting ever found. In the 2018in the American state of Utaha grum of regurgitation was found dating back to 150 million years agocontaining tiny bones of amphibians probably ingested by a prehistoric fish.
However, the Danish discovery has catalyzed the attention of the international media, so much so that the New York Times He spoke about it with Jesper Milàn. The curator of the Geological Museum of Faxe commented with irony the clamor aroused by the discovery, affirming:
Journalists are girls, they love stories about vomiting.
