A fossil hunter in New Zealand discovered a rock containing vertebrae some 80 million years old and after cleaning it the rare find actually ends up looking a bit like a Christmas tree.

The footage filmed on December 2 shows the discovery of the rock and then goes into a timelapse illustrating how it was meticulously cleaned to bring out the prehistoric bone bits.

At the end, the finder realizes the rock eventually looks a bit like a Christmas tree - so he puts it upright and adds some flashy Christmas lights to it.

I discovered this rock containing some bits of bone washed up on a secluded beach in New Zealand. I suspected they were vertebrae from an animal that lived 80 million years ago as the area I was in has been dated to roughly that age. I took the rock home and used pneumatic air scribes (mini jackhammers powered by an air compressor) and vinegar to remove the rock.

The bone is coated in a protective layer before putting it in the vinegar which dissolves the mineral (usually calcium carbonate) that cements the grains of sand together into a sort of sandstone.

After removing the rock I could tentatively identify it as a plesiosaurus based on the concave shape of both sides of the bone.

The shape reminded of a Christmas tree so I added some lights to it.

Music during prep: dance from bensound.com (royalty free requires attribution)
Christmas music: Jingle Punks - 12 days of Christmas (Creative Commons, requires attribution)

Check out my TikTok for any other videos you might want to use which I can then upload to Newsflare: https://www.tiktok.com/@mamlambofossils