Paleontology in Kentucky facts for kids
Paleontology in Kentucky is all about studying ancient life found in the state of Kentucky. Paleontology is the science of fossils, which are the preserved remains or traces of plants and animals from long, long ago.
Kentucky is a great place to find fossils because it has lots of exposed sedimentary rock. These rocks formed from layers of mud, sand, and tiny bits of ancient shells and bones. The rocks in Kentucky show us what life was like during several ancient time periods. These include the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian periods.
Millions of years ago, Kentucky was covered by a warm, shallow sea. This sea was full of amazing creatures like brachiopods, cephalopods, crinoids, and trilobites. Later, during the Devonian Period, a huge coral reef grew where the Falls of the Ohio are today. During the Carboniferous Period (which includes the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian), Kentucky became covered in vast swamps.
There's a big gap in Kentucky's fossil record after the Pennsylvanian Period, lasting until the Pleistocene Ice Age. However, some Cretaceous and Eocene rocks exist, mostly preserving plant fossils. During the Ice Age, Kentucky was home to giant animals like short-faced bears, bison, elk, lions, mammoths, mastodons, and giant ground sloths. Many of their fossils can be found at a famous place called Big Bone Lick. The Brachiopods are Kentucky's official state fossil.
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Ancient Life in Kentucky
The oldest rocks we can see in Kentucky are from the Ordovician Period. Back then, Kentucky was completely covered by a warm, shallow sea. The rocks from this time are full of amazing fossils and are known worldwide.
The sea stayed in Kentucky during the Silurian Period. Brachiopods are the most common fossils from this time. But you can also find many bryozoans, which are tiny colonial animals. Other Silurian creatures included gastropods (snails), pelecypods (clams), cephalopods (like squid), crinoids (sea lilies), trilobites, and different types of corals.
Kentucky's seas were still present during the Devonian Period. Fossils from this time are not as common, and we haven't found any fish fossils yet. However, the fossil reef at the Falls of the Ohio is one of the best and most famous in North America. It shows us what a huge ancient coral reef looked like. Towards the end of the Devonian, the amount of oxygen in the water dropped a lot.
Life during the Mississippian Period left behind many fossils in Kentucky. There were lots of bryozoans and corals, many different kinds of crinoids, and tiny creatures called conodonts. The rocks in southern Kentucky from this time are especially rich in fossils. The ancient swamps of Late Mississippian Kentucky had many plants, and their fossils are common. You can also find bones, scales, and teeth of fish, including shark parts.
During the Pennsylvanian Period, Kentucky became drier. Fossils from both land and sea are found in rocks from this time. Marine life included brachiopods, clams, snails, cephalopods, corals, echinoids (sea urchins), bryozoans, and crustaceans. Kentucky's coal beds are actually the remains of ancient peat swamps. You can often find fossil tree trunks and other plant fossils in the rocks above these coal beds. A fossil trackway (footprints) found in McCreary County is one of the oldest signs of reptiles on Earth!
Most of the Permian Period and the entire Mesozoic Era (the age of dinosaurs) are missing from Kentucky's rock record. We know the sea left most of Kentucky during the Permian. There are a few Cretaceous deposits, but very few fossils have been found. These mostly include plant fossils. No dinosaur fossils have ever been found in Kentucky.
Like the Cretaceous, Kentucky has some rocks from the Tertiary Period, both from land and sea. Plant fossils from this time are common. You can find fossil fruits, cones, flower petals, and stems in places like Ballard, Graves, and Fulton Counties. The Wickliffe area has even given us at least 27 new plant species from that time! We also know termites lived here because of a single fossil wing found near Columbus. Sea life included marine mollusks and fish.
During the Pliocene and Pleistocene (Ice Age), many invertebrate fossils are found in Fayette County. Glaciers reached the northern part of the state. Giant beavers lived in eastern Kentucky, and tapirs were found in Fayette County. Other large animals included short-faced bears, bison, elk, lions, mammoths, mastodons, and giant ground sloths. Their fossils are found all over Kentucky in caves, ponds, river gravel, salt licks, sinkholes, and mineral springs.
History of Fossil Discoveries
Early Discoveries at Big Bone Lick
In the 1700s, people became very interested in fossils found at a salt lick called Big Bone Lick. This site is as important as the famous Rancho La Brea tar pits for Ice Age fossils. Important early Americans like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin studied fossils from Big Bone Lick.
In July 1739, a French army group was traveling down the Ohio River. Some of their Native American hunters went out and came back with huge fossils! They had long tusks, giant teeth, and a thighbone almost as tall as a person. These came from Big Bone Lick. This was the first major scientific discovery of vertebrate (backboned animal) fossils in America.
Later, in 1740, Baron Charles de Longueuil took some of these fossils to France. He left a large thighbone, three molars, and a tusk at the King's collection. In 1756, a scientist named Jean-Etienne Guettard published a paper with pictures of one of the molars. This was the first time an American vertebrate fossil was shown in a scientific publication.
In 1767, George Crogan sent some fossils to Benjamin Franklin in England. Franklin was amazed that the tusks looked like an elephant's, but the molars looked like a carnivorous (meat-eating) animal's. He wondered why elephant-like fossils were found in cold places like Kentucky and Siberia, when modern elephants live in warm climates. He thought maybe Earth's climate was different long ago. The famous frontiersman Daniel Boone also visited Big Bone Lick in 1770. Even George Washington owned a molar from Big Bone Lick by 1780!
Thomas Jefferson's Interest
In 1781, Thomas Jefferson asked General George Rogers Clark to send him fossils from Big Bone Lick. Jefferson especially wanted one of each kind of tooth. Clark tried, but hostile Native Americans and harsh winter weather made it hard to get the fossils. Jefferson was very eager and said he would pay any cost to get them.
In 1785, Jefferson published his book Notes on the State of Virginia. In it, he wrote about the "Mammoth" found at Big Bone Lick. He didn't believe the mammoth was extinct. He thought it might still live in unexplored parts of North America. Jefferson also argued that the teeth and tusks belonged to one single type of animal, not a mix of elephants and hippos. He noted that the teeth were different from modern elephants and hippos, and the climate was too cold for them. Jefferson believed the "mammoth" was an elephant-like animal suited for cold weather. He saw the huge mammoth as proof that life in the New World was just as grand as in the Old World. The mammoth quickly became a symbol of American pride.
In 1795, future president William Henry Harrison collected 13 barrels of fossils from Big Bone Lick. He sent them by boat, but they were lost, perhaps in a shipwreck.
Continued Research in the 1800s
People kept collecting fossils at Big Bone Lick into the 1800s. More and more species were found. On September 6, 1807, William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) and his brother George Rogers Clark arrived to get more fossils for Thomas Jefferson. William Clark said so many people had taken bones that it was hard to find good ones. Still, they found about 300 bones to send to Jefferson.
In 1808, Jefferson received the fossils. He asked Caspar Wistar to help share them. Most went to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Some went to France, and Jefferson kept a small part for himself. Wistar described some of these fossils in 1809, including two new species. One combined traits of elk and moose, later called the stag-moose. He also described a skull like a bison's, which later was found to be more like a musk oxen. As the 1800s continued, more animals were added to the list, like Harlan's ground sloth and Jefferson's ground sloth. In 1923, Columbian mammoths were finally identified among the fossils from Big Bone Lick.
Fossil Types Found in Kentucky
Most fossils found in Kentucky are from sea creatures without backbones.
Bryozoans
Bryozoans are tiny colonial animals that look a bit like moss or coral. They are very common fossils in Kentucky, especially from the Ordovician to Pennsylvanian periods.
- Archimedes: A unique Mississippian bryozoan with a screw-like skeleton.
- Constellaria: An Ordovician bryozoan known for its star-shaped bumps.
- Prasopora: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Evactinopora: A Mississippian bryozoan.
- Amplexopora: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Cyphotrypa: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Dekayella: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Hemiphragma: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Eridotrypa: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Homotrypa: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Homotrypella: An Ordovician bryozoan.
- Stigmatella: An Ordovician bryozoan.
Sponges
Sponges are simple sea animals that filter water for food.
- Hindia: A Devonian sponge.
- Brachiospongia: An Ordovician sponge.
Cnidarians
Cnidarians include corals and jellyfish.
- Conularia
- Grewingkia
- Halysites
Brachiopods
Brachiopods are shelled sea creatures that look a bit like clams, but they are different. They are Kentucky's state fossil.
- Platystrophia
- Rafinesquina
- Strophomena
- Orbiculoidea
- Hebertella
- Zygospira
Trilobites
Trilobites were ancient sea arthropods, like ancient relatives of crabs or insects. They are known for their three-lobed bodies.
- Isotelus
- Flexicalymene
- Gravicalymene
- Platylichas
- Proetidella
- Ceraurus
- Arctinurus
- Eomonorachus
Places to Visit
- Big Bone Lick State Park: A famous fossil site where many Ice Age animal fossils have been found.
Important People
Born in Kentucky
- Edward Oscar Ulrich: A famous paleontologist born on February 1, 1857, in Covington.
Museums with Fossils
- Cumberland Inn Museum - Henkelmann Life Science Collection, Williamsburg
