A fifth-grader from Machulishchy found a fossilized coral about 400 million years old on a field road

Kanstantsin Zaichanka, a schoolboy from the Minsk district, has found an ancient fossil: a chain coral. The boy came across it this summer while out walking with friends near Machulishchy. According to a preliminary estimate, the coral is about 400 million years old.

Kostya is in the fifth grade at Churilovichi School and lives with his family in Machulishchy. He has long been interested in nature and, among other things, hunts for unusual stones. At home he keeps shrimp and ants, watches animals and insects, and studies the world around him with his own microscope. According to his father, biology and exploring nature are among his son's main passions.

This summer Kostya and his friends went to a field road not far from Aviatorov Street. The coral was lying right in a puddle.

The schoolboy himself said: "We knew there were lots of interesting stones there, so we came again. While we were walking around, I noticed an orange-red-yellow stone and wanted to dig it out. Other stones were lying next to it. I pulled one of them out and touched it, and it turned out to be kind of rough. And then it turned out it was a coral!"

In September Kostya came with his father on a tour of the Zoological Museum of the Faculty of Biology at BSU. There he noticed the coral collection and told the staff about his find. After talking with the museum's head, the boy decided to donate the fossil to the university. The family went back to the museum, this time with the specimen, and the ancient find became part of the collection.

Specialists will study the find: a special expert examination lies ahead. According to the boy's father, the museum's head pointed to the coral's impressive size and suggested that it may indicate an ancient marine past for the territory of the present-day Minsk district.

The last chain corals existed about 412 million years ago. If the age is confirmed, the find may become part of the museum's display: after the examination, it is planned to place it next to other corals.