Latest news with #JohnJagt
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Truly unusual' fossil discovery shows us what fish ate 66 million years ago
An extremely rare dinosaur-era animal vomit fossil has been discovered in Denmark, the Museum of East Zealand announced on Monday. The find was made by an amateur fossil hunter on the Cliffs of Stevns, and offers 'exceptional evidence' of the meteorite impact around 65 million years ago that brought an end to the era of dinosaurs, according to Unesco. The fossil hunter, Peter Bennicke, stumbled upon an unusually hardened blob containing pieces of sea lily in a piece of chalk. He then brought his find to a museum where it was cleaned and examined by Dutch sea lily expert John Jagt. Researchers dated the fossil animal regurgitate to the end of the Cretaceous era nearly 66 million years ago. They concluded the fossil vomit contained two species of sea lilies that were likely eaten by a fish. 'The collection consisted of at least two different species of sea lilies mixed in a round clump and must be the remains of sea lilies eaten by an animal which had subsequently regurgitated the indigestible parts,' the Museum of East Zealand said in a statement. Museum curator Jesper Milàn called the fossil a 'truly unusual find'. 'Sea lilies aren't a particularly nutritious diet as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts,' Mr Milàn explained. 'But here's an animal, probably a type of fish, that 66 million years ago ate sea lilies that lived on the bottom of the Cretaceous sea and regurgitated the skeletal parts back up.' Researchers said further examination of the fossil could provide insights into the relationship between predators and prey in the Cretaceous-era sea. The fossil is expected to go on display in a small exhibit at Denmark's Geomuseum Faxe in February. Such fossils were key to reconstructing ancient ecosystems and could provide important knowledge about food chains, scientists said. A study of fossilised faeces and vomit found in Poland last year revealed how early dinosaurs in the Triassic era, 252 to 201 million years ago, competed for food. By examining the fossils for undigested plants and prey matter, scientists could reconstruct the feeding patterns of several species and the ecology of the time. They were surprised to find burnt plant remains in some of the fossil faeces of giant herbivorous dinosaurs, raising questions about whether these animals deliberately ate charcoal to neutralise toxins in their food.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
66 million-year-old vomit fossil discovered in Denmark
A 66 million-year-old vomit fossil has been discovered in Denmark. Found along the Stevns Klint coastal cliff, the fossil is regurgitated lumps of sea lily - a type of marine invertebrate. They were eaten during the Cretaceous period tens of millions of years ago. Fossil hunter Peter Bennicke made the discovery after splitting open a piece of chalk. He brought the fossil to a local museum where it was cleaned up and examined by experts. It was there John Jagt concluded the remains were sea lilies that had been eaten by an animal which then threw up the indigestible parts. Such discoveries are invaluable to scientists because they offer a window into ancient ecosystems and reveal what predators ate and how food chains functioned millions of years ago. The find was named Danekrae DK-1295 - Danekrae are rare natural treasures of Denmark. Museum curator at Geomuseum Faxe and member of the Danish Wildlife Committee Jesper Milan told Sky News it was difficult to tell exactly which animal had thrown up the remains. But he said it was likely from something that specialised in eating things with hard shells, such as a fish or a bottom-dwelling shark. He added: "We have found teeth from sharks that were specialised in crushing hard-shelled prey in the same area. "They are called Heterodontus, it's a relative of the modern Port Jackson shark. That one is high on my list of suspects." Read more from Sky News: Mr Milan continued: "It is truly an unusual find. "Sea lilies are not a particularly nutritious diet, as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts. "But here is an animal, probably a type of fish, that 66 million years ago ate sea lilies that lived on the bottom of the Cretaceous sea and regurgitated the skeletal parts back up. "Such a find provides important new knowledge about the relationship between predators and prey and the food chains in the Cretaceous sea." The vomit fossil will be displayed in a special exhibition at the Geomuseum Faxe.
Sky News
28-01-2025
- Science
- Sky News
66 million-year-old vomit fossil discovered in Denmark
A 66 million-year-old vomit fossil has been discovered in Denmark. Found along the Stevns Klint coastal cliff, the fossil is regurgitated lumps of sea lily - a type of marine invertebrate. They were eaten during the Cretaceous period tens of millions of years ago. Fossil hunter Peter Bennicke made the discovery after splitting open a piece of chalk. He brought the fossil to a local museum where it was cleaned up and examined by experts. It was there John Jagt concluded the remains were sea lilies that had been eaten by an animal which then threw up the indigestible parts. Such discoveries are invaluable to scientists because they offer a window into ancient ecosystems and reveal what predators ate and how food chains functioned millions of years ago. The find was named Danekrae DK-1295 - Danekrae are rare natural treasures of Denmark. Museum curator at Geomuseum Faxe and member of the Danish Wildlife Committee Jesper Milan told Sky News it was difficult to tell exactly which animal had thrown up the remains. But he said it was likely from something that specialised in eating things with hard shells, such as a fish or a bottom-dwelling shark. He added: "We have found teeth from sharks that were specialised in crushing hard-shelled prey in the same area. "They are called Heterodontus, it's a relative of the modern Port Jackson shark. That one is high on my list of suspects." Mr Milan continued: "It is truly an unusual find. "Sea lilies are not a particularly nutritious diet, as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts. "But here is an animal, probably a type of fish, that 66 million years ago ate sea lilies that lived on the bottom of the Cretaceous sea and regurgitated the skeletal parts back up. "Such a find provides important new knowledge about the relationship between predators and prey and the food chains in the Cretaceous sea."
The Independent
28-01-2025
- Science
- The Independent
‘Truly unusual' fossil discovery shows us what fish ate 66 million years ago
An extremely rare dinosaur-era animal vomit fossil has been discovered in Denmark, the Museum of East Zealand announced on Monday. The find was made by an amateur fossil hunter on the Cliffs of Stevns, which offers 'exceptional evidence' of the meteorite impact on Earth about 65 million years ago that brought an end to the era of dinosaurs, according to Unesco. The fossil hunter, Peter Bennicke, stumbled upon an unusually hardened blob containing pieces of sea lily in a piece of chalk. He then brought his find to a museum where it was cleaned and examined by Dutch sea lily expert John Jagt. Researchers dated the fossil animal regurgitate to the end of the Cretaceous era nearly 66 million years ago. They concluded the fossil vomit contained two species of sea lilies that were likely eaten by a fish. 'The collection consisted of at least two different species of sea lilies mixed in a round clump and must be the remains of sea lilies eaten by an animal which had subsequently regurgitated the indigestible parts,' the Museum of East Zealand said in a statement. Museum curator Jesper Milàn called the fossil a 'truly unusual find'. 'Sea lilies aren't a particularly nutritious diet as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts,' Mr Milàn explained. 'But here's an animal, probably a type of fish, that 66 million years ago ate sea lilies that lived on the bottom of the Cretaceous sea and regurgitated the skeletal parts back up.' Researchers said further examination of the fossil could provide insights into the relationship between predators and prey in the Cretaceous-era sea as well as the food chains of the time. The fossil was expected to go on display in a small exhibit at Denmark's Geomuseum Faxe in February. Such fossils were key to reconstructing ancient ecosystems and could provide important knowledge about which animals ate which animals, scientists said. A study of fossilised faeces and vomit found in Poland last year revealed how early dinosaurs in the Triassic era, 252 to 201 million years ago, competed for food. By examining the fossils for undigested plants and prey matter, scientists could reconstruct the feeding patterns of several species and the ecology of the time. They were surprised to find burnt plant remains in some of the fossil faeces of giant herbivorous dinosaurs, raising questions about whether these animals deliberately ate charcoal to neutralise toxins in their food.
