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Schoolboy Tobias Willson, six, has discovered a tooth from a rare fish which lived about 110 million years ago. He has loaned it to Dinosaur Isle Museum at Sandown to be displayed.
The tooth of a Chimaera (Rabbit Fish) was found by Tobias, from Yarmouth, whilst with Brighstone Primary School on a fossil walk at Yaverland, led by Dinosaur Isle Museum.
The fossil was recognised as being unusual and was brought back to the museum where Curator and General Manager, Dr Martin Munt, confirmed the find as being the tooth of a Rabbit Fish.
Tobias was delighted with his discovery and was happy to loan the tooth to Dinosaur Isle Museum to be part of their renewed displays.
“When I knew I was going to Dinosaur Isle, I was so excited I nearly burst with excitement and when I got there, I was as happy as ever and first we went to the beach.
“When I got to the beach I thought it was lovely and then I found the Rabbit Fish tooth and looked at it and thought it was a black rock and I looked at the other rock and saw the tooth and gave it to Alex from the museum. Then he told me it was special and I was the first person on the Island to find one. I was very excited.”
Rabbit Fish
Rabbit Fish are an unusual group of fish most closely related to sharks and have a cartilaginous skeleton making them rarer in the fossil record than bony fish.
The tooth, dating back to the Early Cretaceous period approximately 110 million years ago, is a very rare occurrence on the Isle of Wight. Thought to have originated in the shallow shore deposits of the Lower Greensands (which forms part of the underlying geological structure of southeast England), Rabbit Fish are normally restricted to deep seas.
Dr Munt said:
“This is an amazing find by Tobias and I hope this will spark a lifetime of interest for him. We are very honoured that he has loaned it to the Dinosaur Isle Museum to display, so that others can enjoy it too.”
Cabinet member for environment and heritage, Councillor John Hobart, said:
“I would like to congratulate Tobias on this rare find and thank him for loaning it to the museum. The Island is known for being the richest place in the UK for dinosaur remains and I would recommend joining the Dinosaur Isle Museum staff for a responsible fossil hunt – you never know what you might find.”
Full details of fossil walks can be found at www.dinosaurisle.com or you can book by contacting the museum on (01983) 404344 between 10am and 5pm, Monday to Sunday
