A 66-million-year-old vomit fossil discovered in Denmark. Photo

A rare find has been discovered in Stevns Klint, Denmark, a coastal region near the Baltic Sea, that reveals an ancient dynamic between predator and prey. It's a "bizarre and fascinating addition to the country's natural history" - a 66 million-year-old vomit fossil.

Local fossil hunter Peter Bennicke discovered the rare spot of fossilized vomit, also known as regurgitalites. It happened after he noticed a strange collection of sea lily fragments embedded in chalk in November, NBS News reports.

Peter sent them to the Geomuseum Faxe for examination, where, after cleaning and analysis, it was found that the clump contained the remains of at least two species of sea lilies.

Regurgitalites are an invaluable rarity for scientists studying ancient ecosystems. They show what predators ate and how food chains functioned millions of years ago.

According to Heritage Daily, a Cretaceous predator, possibly a fish, most likely ate sea lilies on the seabed 66 million years ago and then spat out their undigested parts, scientists say.

At the time, Denmark was covered by an oxygen-rich shallow sea that was home to species of fish, squid, mussels, snails, sea urchins, and sponges. Billions of microorganisms lived in the upper layers of the sea, the calcareous shells of which now form the chalk cliffs of Stevns Klint.

"It is a very unusual find. Sea lilies are not a particularly nutritious diet, as they mainly consist of calcareous plates held together by very few soft parts," said Jesper Milàn, museum curator at the Geomuseum Faxe.

According to the Museum of East Zealand, the discovery provides valuable new insight into the relationship between predators and prey and the food chains of the Cretaceous Sea. It sheds light on the ancient marine world and demonstrates the fascinating ways in which researchers can unravel the diet and behavior of long-extinct creatures.

Visitors can see an unusual relic of prehistoric eating habits during a special exhibition at the Geomuseum Faxe.

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