An amateur palaeontologist found an eight-million-year-old crab claw fossil and manages to uncover it from the rock it was enclosed in.

Morne, from New Zealand, was hunting for fossils when he stumbled upon the fossil, then intricately chipped away at the rock until the fossil became visible.

"I found this small crab recently, it was badly damaged but I thought I could still prep the claw and have a closer look at it. The crab species is a Metacarcinus Novaezelandiae which is also known as a Pie Crust Crab because the edge of its carapace looks like the frilled pastry on a pie crust," Morne told Newsflare.

This footage was filmed on May 20.