Amazing fossils on
Møns Klint

Belemnite fossils

Wet candles are fossils of 10-armed belemnite squids that were widespread in shallow water in the warm Cretaceous Sea. The elongated cigar-shaped fossils, which are so abundant in the upwelling zone at Møns Klint, constitute the internal skeleton from the animal's hind body, and are therefore not – as one might be tempted to believe – the fossilized arms of the octopus.

Single coral

There are two types of coral, both of which can be found at Møns Klint. The single corals are probably the most easily recognizable, with their small elongated gnome hat shape with grooves. The colonial corals are more like corals as we know them, or like a small patterned “cup” with a characteristic pattern almost like a wheel track. Down in the cup the coral itself sat and stuck its tentacles up so it could catch some plankton to eat.

Giant oysters

On Møns Klint You might be lucky enough to find the robust giant oysters – Pycnodonts – an extinct group of bivalves related to today’s oysters. These animals apparently lived partially submerged in the Cretaceous mud, and were relatively safe from predators due to their hard shells.

Sea sponges

Most sea sponges you can find Møns Klint, are diatoms. These fungi are the reason why we find flint in the chalk layers at all, as it is the silica from the skeletons of these fungi that has precipitated into flint. That is why they are also found preserved in flint and in several different shapes. They can either be funnel-shaped, shaped like thick cucumbers – or be spherical like the particularly sought-after rattle stones.

In addition, you can sometimes find small calcareous sponges, which can be recognized by their spherical shape and completely white color. They are also known as “Mønske pearls”.

mosasaur

The mosasaur was a large marine lizard that, despite its name, was not a dinosaur – but rather a relative of modern-day monitor lizards and snakes. There were different species of mosasaurs, and the largest could grow up to 17 meters long. They were fearsome predators that, due to an extra joint in their lower jaw, could open their mouths wide and thus swallow very large prey. They also had specialized palatal teeth in their palates that could help hold the prey while it was going down their throats.

Mosasaur teeth are an extremely rare find, and only a small handful of them have been found in total. Møns Klint.

Sea urchin

Sea urchins were among the most numerous animals on the seabed in the Cretaceous period. Therefore, there are also good opportunities to find fossilized sea urchins at Møns KlintYou can find either the sea urchin's shell itself or its spines. Sea urchins are recognized by the symmetrical rows of dots where the spines were once attached while the animal was alive.

If you find a flint that looks like a sea urchin, that's also good enough. The sea urchin's original shell has been filled with flint, which precipitated after the animal's death and has replaced the original minerals in the shell.