A 63-million-year-old fish fossil overturns museum’s assumption

A German fossil collector has found a 63-million-year-old fish fossil in Faxe Limestone Quarry, surprising staff at KALK Museum in Faxe, DR reports.

Museum curator Jesper Milàn had believed it was impossible to find a complete fish skeleton in the quarry. When the limestone formed, he said, it was a living coral reef where many animals died and sank to the bottom, only to be broken apart or eaten.

The collector spent nearly four hours chipping away at the flint block so he could carry it to the museum and show the fossil. Milàn said he had spent 17 years telling people that a complete animal skeleton could never be found there.

The fossil will be displayed at KALK Museum during the autumn school holiday before being sent to the Danekræ committee at the Natural History Museum of Denmark for assessment. The fish is on a 20-kilogram block, and Milàn said visitors may need to look closely to spot it.