Emily Baldry, 5, Discovers 160 Million-Year-Old Fossil While On Dig With Father

A 5-year-old British girl born long after Jurassic Park made its theater debut uncovered a 160-million-year old fossil dating back to that very period. Emily Baldry, now 6, dug up the fossil while on a dig with her father in Gloucestershire last year. Baldry’s discovery is thought to be the first whole Rieneckia odysseus fossil found in Britain, according to geologist Neville Hollingworth, the Escapist magazine reports. The sea creature, with its sharp-pricked shell, roamed the ocean when dinosaurs roamed the earth. After the dig, Baldry and her father turned their discovery, which Baldry has affectionately nicknamed “Spike”, over to Hollingworth for restoration, and now the Jurassic-era sea creature will go on display at the Gateway Information Centre, according to the Sun. Baldry is excited to go on future digs, her mother told the Gazette and Herald after the find. “This was the first dig she has been on and she has done another one since she found the big fossil and she now has a collection of small ammonites,” she told the Gazette and Herald. “Even on the beach on holiday she is always looking out for them.” For more on Baldry’s historic find, watch the video above. Clarification: An earlier version of this story referred to the dig in the Cotswolds as an “archaeological” dig, following our sources. We have clarified the language to reflect the fact that Baldry’s discovery was not itself “archaeological.”

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Emily Baldry, 5, Discovers 160 Million-Year-Old Fossil While On Dig With Father

Posted by on September 24, 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.