A fossil hunter got the shock of his life when what he thought was a "huge rock" on a Yorkshire beach turned out to be something far more extraordinary. Liam, who goes by forgottenfossils on TikTok, made the remarkable discovery at Whitby beach - uncovering what he described as a "time capsule from the Jurassic period".
The social media enthusiast spends considerable time exploring his local shoreline and has made several incredible discoveries. His latest find contained two well-preserved ammonites that must have been in the beach system for years before being revealed.
Liam posted footage of his discovery online, writing: "I thought this was just another rock. Turns out it's a time capsule from the Jurassic period. Two well-preserved Ammonites hidden within." The clip has attracted hundreds of views from amazed viewers.
Ancient marine giants
Ammonites were shelled cephalopods that dominated ancient seas before dying out about 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. These remarkable creatures first emerged during the Early Devonian period around 410 million years ago.
The extinct marine animals were incredibly diverse throughout their history, with over 10,000 species documented by scientists. They are considered excellent index fossils and can be found all around the world, sometimes in very large concentrations.
Expert insights
According to the Natural History Museum, ammonites used their chambered shells for buoyancy and lived in just one chamber at a time. Museum Curator of Fossil Invertebrates Zoë Hughes explains that despite shell similarities to nautiluses, ammonites likely had eight arms rather than tentacles.
Hughes added: "Some of their morphology was closer to that of the coleoid group. We think it's more likely that ammonites would have had eight arms rather than lots of tentacles like a nautilus." New research using sclerochronology - studying shell chemical composition - is providing fresh insights into how long these ancient creatures lived.
Sources used: "Mirror", "Yorkshire", "Express", "Natural History Museum" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
