Stump of Denmark's first flying insect fossil found at Stevns Cliff

For the first time, remains of a fly-owl have been found in Denmark. The fossil is not larger than a seagull.

A small fragment of a bone, discovered at Stevns Cliff near Holtug on Østsjælland, has written Danish history. It is the first time that remains of a fly-owl have been found in the area now known as Denmark.

Østsjællands Museum made the announcement in a press release.

The fragment, which is no longer than five millimeters long and 1.3 millimeters thick, was found by conservator Sten Lennart Jakobsen from Geomuseum Faxe.

- I've been collecting fossils at Stevns Cliff for more than 50 years, and I never imagined I would find a piece of a fly-owl. It was like winning the jackpot in the lottery, he says.

Sten Lennart Jakobsen noticed something unusual about the bone fragment, namely that it was hollow and had a bone wall that was only 0.1 millimeter thick. Bones, which are only known to exist in birds and extinct fly-owls, according to the museum in the press release.

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Flywing Finger

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Paleontologist Bent Lindow has examined the bone fragment. He is an expert in fossil birds and, based on his assessment, it is a piece of the flywing finger from a fly-owl.

Paleontologist Bent Lindow evaluated that the finding is a piece of the flywing finger from a fly-owl. Marked in red here. (© Østsjællands Museum)

Museum inspector Jesper Milàn from Geomuseum Faxe is thrilled.

- It's the most important find that has been made at Stevns Cliff in the 15 years I've worked here, he says.

Museum inspector Milàn has never doubted that fly-owls must have been present, as they were widespread around the world. But it is only now that remains have been found in Danish chalk.

- The find is particularly exciting because it was found in the very top layer of the chalk, which means that this fly-owl lived within the last 50,000 years of the Cretaceous period, which was about 66 million years ago, and that it was one of the very last fly-owls on Earth, Milàn says.

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View the bone on Saturday

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Interested parties can already see the find on Saturday, when there is a fossil day at Geomuseum Faxe.

The presentation and communication present some challenges, as there is not much to show.

- We will set up a powerful digital microscope, so visitors to Fossil Day have a chance to see it properly. We are also borrowing a model of a small fly-owl from the company 10Tons, which makes models of prehistoric animals for museums. It can give an impression of where the bone comes from, Milàn says in the press release.

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Fly-owls

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Fly-owls originated as a group of animals during the middle of the geological period Triassic, around 245 million years ago, and they were the absolute rulers of the air until the end of the Cretaceous period, where they went extinct along with the large dinosaurs.

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Fly-owls existed in all sizes, from tiny forms not larger than a shrew, to giants with a wingspan of over 12 meters.

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