A FOSSIL hunter has discovered a 135 million year old shark tooth.

Avid beachcomber and paleontologist Jamie Hiscocks discovered the prehistoric tooth while fossil hunting in the bone bed of the beach near Hastings.

Mr Hiscocks, 53, from Bexhill, who is not revealing the exact location of the find, said: “It’s a very unusual-looking tooth.

“It reminds me of some weird-looking UFO type spacecraft with those strange appendages sticking out on the sides.”

The tooth belonged to a Polyacrodus brevicostatus, which lived in the Cretaceous period.

The teeth are the most distinct character of this extinct creature – it is only known from its teeth and some fin spines.

No complete skeletons have been found.

Sharks are made of cartilage, which breaks down quickly and doesn’t fossilise as well as hard bones. A few skulls have been found in Sussex, although discoveries like this one are rare.

Mr Hiscocks said: “It has taken me many hours, actually weeks, to find one of these.

“But all the time you are searching this bone bed material you are constantly making fresh finds, so the more you search, the more you increase your chances of finding something special like this tooth.”

Beachcombing is searching the beach for fossils or anything of value.

Mr Hiscocks said: “It’s unusual to be doing this in August. Just following the stormy weather is the best conditions to comb the beach for fossils or anything unusual really that may have been washed in by the storm.

“There are a variety of loose dinosaur age fossils to be found locally, including the isolated bones of dinosaurs, turtles, crocodiles, pterosaurs and even small lizards.

“The remains of ancient fossilised sharks can also be found if you are fortunate.”

The fossil hunter said beach combing was something everyone could do and he urged more people to take part.

He said the thought of finding something amazing was always possible and made for an interesting afternoon on the beach.

His advice is that practice makes perfect and to keep trying – but first and foremost he says it is vital to stay safe and stay away from cliff edges.