Ancient giant worms clue in cliff

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/devon/7949054.stm

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Scientists believe they have unearthed evidence of giant prehistoric worms, on a naturist beach in Devon.

Casts of the monster worms, thought to have been made 260 million years ago, have been found by geologists at the beach near Torbay.

Dr Kevin Page of Plymouth University believes they were made by worms 3ft (90cm) long and 6in (15cm) wide.

He found the casts while surveying the area for a project backed by Unesco, the environmental arm of the UN.

The English Riviera Geopark is one of 57 sites around the world which aim to protect geo-diversity and to promote geological heritage.

The beach is popular with naturists On his ramblings for the Geopark, Dr Page found the mysterious markings which appear to show a giant worm.

Dr Page, chairman of the Devon Regionally Important Geological Sites Group, told BBC News: "It's extraordinary. We are looking at an entirely new life form."

"They seem to be some sort of worm.

"These have never been seen before, so we have some of the last vestiges of a different world preserved in the rock."

Further surveys will be made before the research is published later this year.

Dr Page said: "I just couldn't believe my eyes. They are not in the books. They are new.

"I am very excited, needless to say."

One of the beach's regulars said: "I shall watch that cliff with renewed interest when I come down to sunbathe and sketch in the summer."