488-Million-Year-Old Fossil Discovered by 6-Year-Old Boy While Digging in Their Garden

A six-year-old boy discovered a fossil believe to have dated back around 488 million years in their garden after he received a fossil-hunting kit as a Christmas gift.

The boy, named Siddak Singh Jhamat, loves to play in the mud. He also races home from his Welsall, West Midlands-based school to start collecting bugs and worms from the flowerbeds of his parents.

According to a report from Mirror, the boy received the fossil-hunting kit as a holiday present and was digging in his Walsall garden when he came across some coral believed to have aged from 251 to 488 million years old.

Known as Sid, the six-year-old said he was excited to discover the fossil in his garden in Walsall following digging for worms.

The boy also said he was just digging, looking for worms and other things such as bricks and pottery, and he just came across this rock that appeared slightly akin to a horn.

He also thought it could be a tooth, a claw, or a horn, although, it was in fact, a piece of coral that is identified as a 'horn coral.'

Commenting on his discovery, the boy said, he was really thrilled about what it really was.

ALSO READ: Human Evolution Evidently Taking Place Among Southeast Asian Free Divers

Up to 488-Million-Year-Old Fossil

Vish Singh, Sid's father explained, they were surprised his son discovered something so strange-shaped in the soil.

He added that the boy discovered a horn coral and some tinier pieces next to it, then the following day, Sid went digging again and discovered what was described in the report as a congealed block of sand.

In that, Sid's father explained, there were loads of small mollusks and seashells, and something identified as 'crinoid', which is like a squid's tentacle, and thus, is quite a prehistoric object.

Singh was able to identify the horn coral his son discovered through a fossil group he is a part of on Facebook who could see the markings of fossils that's most possibly a Rugosa coral, approximated to be aged between 251 and 488 million years.

This said age range, Sid's father also explained, that they existed from was from 500 to 251 million years back, also known as the Paleozoic Era.

Unique Discovery in the Back Garden

England, during that period, "was part of Pangea, a landmass of continents." It was all underwater, too, in quite a substantial expanse of time.

Sid's family said they do not reside in a place known for its fossils such as the Jurassic Coast in the south part of England, although they do not have abundant natural clay in their garden where the fossils were discovered.

His family also said that they would like to inform Birmingham University's Museum of Geology about the discovery in their garden.

His father said that lots and lots of people have already been commenting on how amazing it is to discover something in the back garden.

These people say, he said, "you can find fossils anywhere" if you search for them carefully enough. However, to discover a substantially large piece like what they discovered is definitely unique.

The Express & Star's YouTube video below shows a similar report: