The Morris family live in Birchgrove, Sully, and once decided to spend their family Sunday day at Llantwith Major beach, where they had been for the first time. A nine-year-old boy named Eli knows well what fossils look like, because he has his own collection at home. Although the previous findings are not as impressive in terms of age and size as the one the boy came across this time.
Ammonite, which is 200 million years old, was found by a nine-year-old boy on a rock. Photo: BBC Wales, David Grundy.
As the boy himself says, he just sat and looked at the fossil in amazement: «I just sat here, looked up and thought: 'Oh my God, how big!'».
During a walk on the beach, the boy discovered a fossil.
The boy's father, who himself was interested in archeology and dinosaurs as a child, says that he often went hunting for fossils with his son. He supports his son's passion.
«We're always somewhere on the coast, usually Gower Way, but this was our first time here, it's really beginner's luck»
Llantwit Major Cliff Beach, Jurassic site. The rocks are formed from a rock called "blue lias", which is a combination of limestone and argillite.
«The fossil that Ely found is an ammonite, which was a type of mollusk closely related to octopuses, squids and cuttlefish, which is a rare find in Llantwit Major»- Swansea University expert Dr Nick Felstead.
«We can see that the internal chambers that were used for the ammonite's buoyancy were filled with quartz during fossilization, which is even more rare, and that makes this chamber particularly beautiful.»
Wikipedia. Ancient Ammonite in section.
Large ancient molluscs are valuable in both aesthetic and scientific terms. In the section, we see partitions and chambers with preserved rock from the time of life.
