Customs Officials Find Giant Snail Fossils From Late Cretaceous Period In The Post
This is the moment Chinese customs officials find two incredibly beautiful paleontological fossils from the Late Cretaceous period in the post.
The incident was filmed at Hangzhou International Airport in the city of Hangzhou located in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.
The fossils were of the extinct species Placenticeras meeki, an ammonite species from the Late Cretaceous period.
The giant snail carnivores lived in the oceans between 65 and 400 million years ago.
Customs officials at Hangzhou International Airport said it was the first time they had seized paleontological fossils in the post before.
The two fossil products have been handed over to the anti-smuggling department for investigation.
Customs officials said a company wanted to send a batch of express packages and declared the contents as glass ornaments for home decoration.
However, during the X-ray, officials noticed that the contents appeared different to the declared goods and opened the boxes to inspect them.
They found two colourful disc-shaped fossils that seemed different to typical glass ornaments and suspected they were archaeological.
The two items were later confirmed to be Placenticeras meeki fossils from the Late Cretaceous period.
An investigation was opened after the sender broke Article 33 regarding the transit and protection of archaeological artefacts.
