A man inspired to take up fossil hunting by Sir David Attenborough made the find of a lifetime on his first outing – a giant ammonite.
The huge fossil, found by 21-year-old Archie Faiers, is 190 million years old and took the stone mason just 15 minutes into his first ever fossil dig to find.
Discovered on a Jurassic Coast beach in East Devon, the fossil is of the species Microderoceras Birchi, typical of ammonites found in the area.
21-year-old stone mason Archie Faiers made the find of a lifetime on his first fossil hunting outing – a giant ammonite
Mr Faiers said he decided to go hunting for prehistoric relics after watching the BBC documentary Attenborough and the Sea Dragon.
He took his dogs for a walk along the Jurassic Coast and within minutes spotted an interesting rock in earth disturbed by a recent cliff fall.
It turned out to be an ammonite fossil that the 21-year-old later discovered was almost 200 million years old.
Mr Faiers, named the UK’s top young Architectural Stone Mason, was on a strip of Jurassic Coast beach between Seaton and Lyme Regis when he made the discovery.
He wasn’t far from where Sir David filmed the recovery of the fossilised remains of a large Ichthyosaur, or Sea Dragon, which was broadcast on the BBC two weeks ago.
Mr Faiers, from Uplyme, Devon, said ‘I knew we were close to the spot where the TV fossil was found, there had been an overnight cliff fall and I spotted a rounded rock on the beach.
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The huge fossil is 190 million years old and took Mr Faiers just 15 minutes into his first ever fossil dig to find. Discovered on a Jurassic Coast beach in East Devon, the fossil is of the species Microderoceras Birchi, typical of ammonites found in the area
Ammonites (artist’s impression) sported a ribbed spiral-form shell, and lived between 240-65 million years ago
Ammonites are perhaps the most widely known fossil, particularly in the UK where hundreds are dug up along the Jurassic Coast every year.
The ancient sea creatures sported a ribbed spiral-form shell, and lived between 240-65 million years ago, when they were wiped out along with the dinosaurs.
Ammonites were cephalopods; their nearest living relatives are animals like squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
They ate starfish, small crustaceans such as shrimp and other small marine creatures, using their tentacles to probe the seafloor before snapping up prey.
The creatures moved using jet propulsion via a tube near their mouth that squirted water, much like some species of modern squid.
Mr Faiers said he took his dogs for a walk along the Jurassic Coast and within minutes spotted an interesting rock in earth disturbed by a recent cliff fall. It turned out to be the ancient ammonite fossil
‘I knew that these rocks are the ones that could have a fossil inside.’
Archie heaved the heavy rock back along the beach into his workshop.
He added: ‘I started to chip away at the outside off the rock and I soon realised that there was an ammonite inside.
Mr Faiers said he decided to go hunting for prehistoric relics after watching the BBC documentary Attenborough and the Sea Dragon (pictured)
‘I’m using my traditional stone mason tools in preparing it but I need much finer tools so things are on hold at the moment.’
Ammonites are perhaps the most widely known fossil, particularly in the UK where hundreds are dug up along the Jurassic Coast every year.
The ancient sea creatures sported a ribbed spiral-form shell, and lived between 240-65 million years ago, when they were wiped out along with the dinosaurs.
Mr Faiers, named the UK’s top young Architectural Stone Mason, was on a strip of Jurassic Coast beach between Seaton and Lyme Regis when he made the discovery
Ammonites were cephalopods; their nearest living relatives are animals like squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
They ate starfish, small crustaceans such as shrimp and other small marine creatures, using their tentacles to probe the seafloor before snapping up prey.
The creatures moved using jet propulsion via a tube near their mouth that squirted water, much like some species of modern squid.