He said they plan to display some of the fossils discovered. Ammonite fossils also reveal information about ancient climates. "We were able to piece together the geological history and environment for that time period," he added.Ĭhan also said that more research will be conducted into the fossils and paleontologists may find something even more significant. Most species, however, had coiled shells lined with progressively larger chambers. So this time, we were able to find the ammonite piece, which indicates 190 million years ago in the Jurassic period the area around the current Hong Kong was like a sea area," Chan told RTHK. "Fossils are mostly found in sedimentary rock and we do not have many exposures of sedimentary rocks around Hong Kong. He said the trace fossil contains worm burrows and evidence of previous life forms in mudflats. They came in a variety of sizes so we sorted them into 5 size categories. Professor Chan Lung-sang from the university's department of earth science said it was after several expeditions that they managed to find the pieces of fossil. Ammonite is actually the colloquial term for ammonoids, a large and diverse group of creatures that arose during the Devonian period, which began about 416 million years ago. We acquired a parcel of fossilized AMMONITE specimens from Madagascar.
Ammonites were free swimming creatures related to squid and octopuses. They died out around the same time as the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. They first evolved around 240 million years ago and became a very successful group of animals.
They say the finds in Plover Cove, Sai Kung and Centre Island involve ammonite, trace and ostracod fossils and two of them are the largest of their type ever found in the territory. This is a specimen of Parapuzosia seppenradensis, which has a diameter of 8 feet, 6 inches, weighs 3.5 tons and was found in rocks about 78 million years old at Seppenrade near Munster, Germany. Ammonites are a well known fossil and easily recognised by their coiled shell.
Researchers from the University of Hong Kong say they have made a significant discovery of fossils dating back millions of years to the Devonian, Permian and Jurassic periods.