Prehistoric squid drawn in prehistoric ink.

The Telegraph unveils a beautiful portrait of a fearsome beast – an ancient squid drawn in its own petrified ink:

“It is difficult to imagine how you can have something as soft and sloppy as an ink sac fossilised in three dimension, still black, and inside a rock that is 150 million years old[,” said Dr. Phil Wilby, of the British Geological Survey.]

“The structure is similar to ink from a modern squid so we can write with it. I suppose we could theoretically use it for food colouring, too, but I don’t think I will try tasting it.”

“We felt that drawing the animal with it would be the ultimate self-portrait,” said Dr Wilby.

“It’s very valuable material so we won’t be using any more of it now we’ve done the first test.”

Picture at the link.

Found via [the Arboretum]