Something smells rotten in the state of Denmark.
Or, rather, it did 66 million years ago, Danish scientists say, announcing the recent discovery of very old shark vomit on the country’s Cliffs of Stevns — a coastal scenic spot one hour from Copenhagen.
The prehistoric patch of puke sat there long enough to turn into a fossil — languishing in obscurity until an amateur sleuth made the gross and engrossing discovery last November.
The strange story begins during the Cretaceous period, the New York Times reported, when a shark, or shark-like sea creature, apparently did not enjoy a meal of sea lilies.
Sea lilies “aren’t that great to eat, because they are almost only skeleton,” Dr. Jesper Milàn, curator of Denmark’s Geomuseum Faxe, which will showcase the previously unknown upchuck, told the Gray Lady.
“So they took what they could and threw up the rest,” he said.
The putrid portal to the past was uncovered by local hunter Peter Bennicke, who had been prowling the white chalk cliffs, a UNESCO-listed geological site, for interesting finds.
Dr. Milàn speculated to the paper that the suddenly-scrutinized spew could have come from a bottom-dwelling shark.
John Jagt, a Dutch sea lily expert, in a written statement obtained by USA Today, concluded that the historic hurl was made up of “two different species of sea lilies mixed into a clump.”
The retro ralphings were primarily composed of the “indigestible skeletal parts of their bodies,” the outlet reported.
Experts say the funky find could shed new light on what life was like during the Cretaceous period.
At the latter end of that time period, Europe was said to be a series of islands, due to higher sea levels.
The scientific term for fossilized vomit is regurgitalite.
Surprisingly, the timeless throw up is far from the oldest out there — Dr. Milàn said that Germany, for example, has laid claim to an even more historic spot of spit up, dating back 150 million years.
The spew sample has already been classified by Denmark as an object of “exceptional natural historical value.”
That means the vomit belongs to Denmark — and is not for sale.
“This is the most famous piece of puke in the world,” Dr. Milàn told The Times.
