Pictured: Jack Wonfor and his 12-year-old cousin Amelie Russel with the fossil A rare well-preserv (Image: Wight Coast Fossils/Solent News)
Fossil hunter Jack Wonfor, 24, spotted the ‘stunning’ mollusc sticking out of a rock and spent days carving it out with a special tool.
It is believed the fossil, found at St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight, is 100 to 105 million years old.
Mr Wonfor believes the mollusc he and his 12-year-old cousin Amelie Russel found is only the fourth to be found in this type of rock on the island. The retained firefighter thinks the other three are all in museum collections.
Mr Wonfor, who runs Wight Coast Fossils which provides guided tours on the island, said it’s particularly rare to find an ammonite with a complete rostrum – the curved projection coming off the fossil.
Pictured: The fossil unearthed A rare well-preserved ammonite fossil thought to be 105 million yea (Image: Wight Coast Fossils/Solent News)
Mr Rostrum said: “The main thing that makes it rare is the rostrum. There’s not many types of ammonite that have a rostrum.
“The ones that do are usually really thin and really weak. They usually break off when you try to extract them.”There are about 8,000 species of ammonites.
Mr Wonfor continued: “It took eight hours to clean up. So I got it back home, I did that over about three days.”
The fossil, a Mortoniceras inflatum, was found at St Catherine’s point and Mr Wonfor used an electric engraver to uncover it from the excess rock.
Mr Wonfor believes only three fossils of this kind – found in upper greensand rock with a complete rostrum – have ever been found on the island before.
Pictured: Jack Wonfor with the fossil A rare well-preserved ammonite fossil thought to be 105 mill (Image: Wight Coast Fossils/Solent News)
Ammonites are usually discovered in chalk or lower greensand rocks, which were a much better environment to support life.Wight Coast Fossils told the the find was “absolutely stunning”.
“This is a well-preserved example of this relatively uncommon ammonite, it is certainly one of the most impressive we’ve come across,” they added.
It’s in Mr Wonfor’s ‘top five’ favourite fossils he’s ever found since he began collecting at the age of four.
He said: “I will probably have it for another couple of months. I’ve been collecting since I was four, so I have several thousand fossils in my collection room.”
Mr Wonfor thinks he’s got about 6,000 fossils in his collection. He plans to donate this one to the Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown, Isle of Wight.
is Britain’s most famous fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist. She became known internationally for her discoveries in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in Dorset.
Pictured: Less rare – an ammonite fossile how they are typically found without the rostrum present (Image: Wight Coast Fossils/Solent News)