Man digging in basement uncovers 5 fish fossils

Digging in a basement in Canada's northwest Calgary, a man came across several 60 million year old fish fossils. 

Edgar Nernberg, who works at Keystone Excavating, was working in a basement in March when he discovered the fossils of five fish in the sandstone rock that lies under most of Calgary, according to a report from the Canada Journal on Thursday.

Nernberg called Darla Zelenitsky, a paleontologist and assistant professor of Geoscience at the University of Calgary, to investigate the fossils. 

"Fossils are dated based on the age of the rock they are found in. In the case of these fish, they were discovered in the Paskapoo Formation, which is around 60 million years old," the Canada Journal said. 

“Plants and animals were basically recovering from extinction and they were starting to diversify,” paleontologist Zelenitsky told the newspaper.

She also said each of the fish are about the size of a wallet.

The fossils will be cleaned and prepared for research at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. 

Anadolu Agency