Fossils: Nine-year-old finds fossil that dates back millions of years on a beach in Wales

What's the coolest thing you've ever found on the beach?

Well nine-year-old Eli has had a pretty good find recently - a 200-million-year-old fossil!

He discovered it whilst walking on a beach with his Dad.

Eli saw the fossil up on a rocky cliff face, which turned out to be a mollusc fossil from the Jurassic period.

What did the fossil look like?

Eli spotted the ancient ammonite when he was out with his dad at Llantwit Major beach

The fossil is pretty big - about 1ft across - which experts say is quite unusual for the area.

The fossil is an ammonite, which is a mollusc that would have been quite similar to squid or cuttlefish.

Dr Nick Felstead, an expert from the University of Swansea, also said there's a special reason for why it looks so pretty.

He said the fossil had been "infilled with quartz during fossilisation", which is also very rare.

Eli's love of fossils

As well as this find, Eli has lots of fossils throughout his house that he has collected over the years.

He goes fossil hunting on the beach with his Dad, who said he also loved "dinosaurs and rocks" whilst growing up.

This find was in a completely new location to where they normally go - and his Dad called it "beginners luck".

How do you find fossils?

Look out for shapes like these

If you want to go out and find a fossil in the UK, luckily there's plenty of places to go.

Dorset, Essex, North Yorkshire and Pembrokeshire all have great places to try and search.

Take an adult with you, and remember to be extra careful if you're searching near the seaside.

Look out for unusual looking bumps in the stone - does something look a bit like a shell shape?

We went to the Isle of Wight to try find some for ourselves.