66-million-year-old vomit – a unique find in Denmark
Geologist Peter Bennicke discovered a fossilized regurgitate, 66 million years old, in a piece of chalk from the Stevns Klint formation in Denmark. The sample contains fragments of at least two species of sea lilies. Paleontologist Paul Olsen noted the remarkable sharpness of the fragment edges, indicating rapid expulsion of stomach contents by a prehistoric predator.
Geologist Peter Bennicke, while working with a chalk flake from the Stevns Klint formation in Denmark, stumbled upon an unusual inclusion. The sample was sent to the Faxe Geological Museum, where sea lily specialist John Jagt identified fragments of at least two different species of crinoids inside. Museums of Eastern Zealand concluded that this is an extremely rare fossil—a regurgitate, meaning the solidified remains of food that a prehistoric animal vomited about 66 million years ago. Paleontologist Paul Olsen from Columbia University noted that the edges of the fragments retained remarkable sharpness and showed no serious signs of digestive erosion. In his opinion, the process resembled a rapid expulsion of stomach contents rather than full digestion. The find falls under Danish law: according to the Natural History Act, samples of special scientific significance receive Danekræ status and must be transferred to a state museum. Although older evidence of this kind exists—for example, a similar fossil 160 million years old found in England in 2002—the Danish specimen is unique in its completeness.