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This Freaky 350-Million-Year-Old ‘Smiling’ Fossil Isn’t What It Seems

Britain’s Christine Clark was out on a fossil hunt on Boxing Day when the 64-year-old found a pebble that was smiling at her from the sand.

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Britain’s Christine Clark was out on a fossil hunt on Boxing Day when the 64-year-old found a pebble that was smiling at her from the sand.

The BBC reports that Clark posted a photo to a fossil identification group on Facebook, where thousands weighed in, offering their opinions on what this mildly terrifying stone was all about. Later confirmed by the British Geological Survey, the teeth are a part of a crinoid, a Marine animal with a lineage that stretches back more than 500 million years.

The ‘Smiling’ Fossil From 350 Million Years Ago Has a Much Stranger Explanation

Crinoids first appeared in the Cambrian period and are part of the echinoderm family, alongside sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They stick to the ocean floor with a flexible stem made of stacked discs called ossicles.

Fossil hunters usually find them scattered about individually. This one with the creepy teeth is made up of several ossicles still connected in a single column. Split lengthwise and curved by millennia of erosion, and you’ve got a fossil that looks like a human mouth mid-scream.

Experts believe it likely came from the Alston Formation, a dark limestone deposit about 350 million years old. Complete crinoid fossils are rare; most discoveries are isolated discs. That’s part of what makes Clark’s “smile” stand out.

She has reportedly received offers to buy it but plans to keep it. Though maybe don’t put it anywhere you might glance at it before you drift off to sleep, otherwise your nightmares will be swirling with images of prehistoric monster teeth.  

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