Animals hidden in stone

In 1821, Tilach's Philosophical Magazine published the extraordinary story of stonemason David Virtue, who made an astonishing discovery while working on a large piece of rock excavated from 215 feet below the surface. After breaking it open, "he found a lizard encased in the rock. It was coiled out of its form into a cave, which was the reflection of the animal's body."

"It was 3.5 centimeters long, brownish in color, and had a round head with brightly shining eyes. It appeared dead, but after five minutes in the open air, it began to show signs of life. Soon it began to run vigorously."

There are isolated documented cases of frogs, toads, or lizards being found, usually curled up. Most often, the animals were alive. There are also numerous skin or shape impressions in the caves where they were found. This raises several interesting questions: How did these animals get there and survive? Where did these animal prints come from in the rocks—which, according to geology, take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to form? How long had these animals been there?