Aussie renter's 250 million-year-old discovery in inner-city backyard
An Aussie woman has made an astonishing ancient discovery in the backyard of her inner-city rental home. During one particularly rainy day earlier this month, the Sydney renter noticed an 'unusual' pattern emerge on a large, heavy rock propped up in her garden.
'It was quite dirty so it wasn't until it washed off a bit that I went 'oh, it's got something on it',' the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Yahoo News. Intrigued by the intricate detail 'all over' the chunk of sandstone, she decided to take a photo.
'Then I realised it was a fossil,' she said, adding she believes the owner of the property must have placed it there after 'digging out' an old cellar on the property. Although she has never ventured inside the 'scary' underground room, the woman said her partner had spotted an 'original stove' inside.
Seeking answers about what could have created the pattern on the huge stone, the curious resident sought help from Aussie fossickers online.
'I thought it was plants, but apparently it is a sea creature,' she said after being inundated with responses.
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After reviewing images of the rock, palaeontologist Sally Hurst and members of the Fossil Club of Australia confirmed to Yahoo the 'great find' is at least 250 million years old.
The clusters of fine lines seen on the stone were created by 'a group of animals known as Bryozoa, which are simple aquatic invertebrates that we still have today', she explained.
'This one in particular is called Fenestella. It's from the mid-Permian, so before the dinosaurs, at around 272 to 259 million years old!'
Hurst, from Macquarie University, told Yahoo the fossil is likely from the Fenestella Shale Member exposed at Mulbring Quarry in the Hunter Valley. 'So not originally from Sydney or the cellar of the property, but slightly further afield,' she said. 'It's a beautiful specimen, and quite a common find from that area.'
While they are found around the world, in Australia fossilised Fenestella is primarily seen in the Sydney Basin and the NSW's South Coast. They are not as commercially valuable as some other fossils, but can be precious to scientists and collectors.
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"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." I'd sunk into the leather couch after work for our usual 'wine' down with my girlfriends. It was the type of gathering where we'd typically share a bottle (or two) of our favorite red, but instead on her vintage coffee table next to a glowing Trudon candle, I saw a ziploc baggie filled with magic mushrooms (slender gray stems with rust-colored caps) and a rainbow Willy Wonka-like shroom chocolate bar. Under nutritional info the label read, 'INGREDIENTS: GOOD TIMES & LAUGHTER.' I offered to pass the bottle of wine, but my friends declined and skipped the nightcap for a mushroom cap, assuring me they were 'super mellow' if I wanted to try one. I wanted to be the cool girl who could 'shroom on a whim, but I'm a pragmatic researcher at heart (hence my job as a reporter). Amused by the chocolate bar packaging, I snapped a pic and shared it to my Instagram stories. Within minutes, my DMs lit up with hearts and messages. 'Ze best! I've been microdosing mushrooms for the last year. Life changing,' one message read. 'When I go out, I take them instead of drinking. I have more fun, I'm more giggly, there's no hangover and I wake up feeling happier and more energized—never anxious and the opposite of depressed. I've gotten probably 15 of my friends on it and they all agree, it's an easy way to cut down or cut out drinking altogether.' Had morel support become the new aperol spritz? Back in 2015, the Global Drug Survey found that 8.6 percent of respondents had used magic mushrooms. By 2021, this number had jumped to 16.1 percent. But most aren't going on full-on hallucinogenic trips, rather they are microdosing mushrooms to lift their mood and energy levels, and many see it as a healthier vice than booze. 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