Rare marine fossil found in eastern Saskatchewan

A rare ammonite fossil – about 75 million years old - has been discovered in eastern Saskatchewan.

A rare ammonite fossil – about 75 million years old - has been discovered in eastern Saskatchewan.

A resident in the Village of Frobisher was building a drainage system with rocks in his backyard when he came across the artifact.

“The rock was cracked open like this when I found it. I was looking for the other half and I couldn't find it,” explained Bob Steman, resident of Frobisher.

“I just threw it off to the side and thought nothing of it. About four days later, my wife was out so I told her pick it up and have a look and she thought it was a fossil. That's when we decided we would get it checked out.”

Steman first contacted the Royal Alberta Museum for further information and was shocked to find out how old the object could possibly be. He then reached out to the provincial museum, due to the fossil being found on Saskatchewan land.

“This belongs to a group called ammonites, they are the squid like animals,” said Ryan McKellar, curator of Palaentology of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM),” referring to the new discovery.

“Their modern relatives are something like the nautilus. They have these big coiled shells, or straight shells, and there's a squid like animal that lives in the last chamber. They still have relatives around today."