Paleontology in Kentucky

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state of Kentucky

Paleontology in Kentucky refers to

paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Kentucky
.

Kentucky's abundance of exposed

state fossil
.

Prehistory

Paleogeographic reconstruction showing the Appalachian Basin area during the Middle Devonian period.

The oldest exposed rocks in Kentucky are of

Falls of the Ohio is one of the best preserved and most famous in North America.[6] By the late Devonian, local dissolved oxygen levels dropped precipitously.[7]

reptiles.[4]

The interval spanning the

Mesozoic Era are almost completely absent from the state's rock record.[2] Little is known about Kentucky's Permian history except that the sea withdrew to the far western corner of the state during this period.[7] There are also a few Cretaceous deposits in the state formed in both marine and terrestrial environments.[4] Very few fossils are known from the Cretaceous life of Kentucky.[9] Among these scarce remains, however, were plants.[4] Dinosaur fossils have not been found in Kentucky.[2]

Like the Cretaceous, the geologic record of Kentucky contains deposits left on both land and sea during the

tapirs in Fayette County.[9] Other local wildlife included short-faced bear, bison, elk, lions, mammoths, mastodons, and giant ground sloths. Fossils from animals like these are widespread throughout the state and preserved in a variety of contexts. Among the types of deposits preserving mammals of this age are caves, ponds, river gravel, salt licks, sinkholes, and mineral springs.[7]

History

Indigenous interpretations

The

lick. Then one day the Little People came and killed the Witch Buffaloes, making the area safe. The bones of the Witch Buffalo were left in place by the spring, which later shrank and became bitter. This is how the Wyandot people explained the area's large fossil bones and salty water. The large Pleistocene buffalo fossils of the Ohio River area would have been recognizable as similar but larger relatives of modern buffalo to the local Iroquois and Wyandot people, which may have inspired the legend.[12]

Another Native American tale that may have been inspired by the fossils of Kentucky was told by the Iroquois. According to one legend, the first Iroquois war party to cross the Ohio River camped in Kentucky. However, a monster called the furious lizard attacked them and killed all but one warrior, who managed to kill the beast. Although there's no explicit mention of unusual bones in the story, local fossils still may have been an influence on the story's contents.[13]

Another Iroquois tale is more explicitly connected to Kentucky fossils; they had a story describing the origins of

Big Bone Lick. The Iroquois believe that an Iroquois war party was returning from battles with the Cherokee in the southern US. While on their return voyage, one of their number became too sick to make the homeward journey.[13] The rest of the war party abandoned him to die and upon their return told the rest of the village that their abandoned comrade had actually died in battle.[14]

However, the sick warrior recovered and managed to find his way home. When he arrived he told the villagers an unusual story. He said that while he was sick he saw three Little People arrive in a canoe. They said they were heading to a nearby salt lick inhabited by strange animals. The Little People were going to kill these beasts as they rose up out of the ground. The Iroquois warrior watched as a male and two female giant buffalo-like monsters burst out of the ground and were slain by the Little People's arrows. The Little People helped treat his sickness and guided the Iroquois warrior home. The villagers punished the warriors who had abandoned their comrade and planned an expedition to visit the lick. When they arrived they found the gigantic bones of the creatures killed by the Little People.[15]

Scientific research

During the 1700s fossils collected from a

Paris, France with two illustrations of one of the molars Longueuil brought from Big Bone Lick to France. Although the focus of Guettard's paper was a comparison of the geology of North America with that of Switzerland, the inclusion of the illustrated molar marked the paper as the first publication to include images of an American vertebrate fossil.[21]

In 1767 George Crogan (an Indian agent

carnivorous animal.[23] Franklin also wondered at the fact that the elephant-like fossils of Big Bone Lick and Siberia were found in places so much colder than places modern elephants live. He speculated that maybe earth was in a different position in the past and its climate correspondingly different.[24] Frontiersman Daniel Boone visited Big Bone Lick in 1770 and examined its fossils.[25] By December, 1780 George Washington himself remarked owned a molar extracted from a large unknown animal's skull discovered at Big Bone Lick.[26]

In December, 1781 Thomas Jefferson gave a letter to Daniel Boone to be delivered to General George Rogers Clark, who was living in Louisville. The letter reminded Clark that he had offered to send Jefferson some fossils from Big Bone Lick. He was especially hopeful that Clark might send him one of each kind of tooth in the animal's skull.[27] In February, 1782 Clark wrote back to Jefferson replying that he had unable to acquire any fossils at the Lick except for a broken thigh bone.[27] However, Clark also added that he would send soldiers to the Lick to acquire the best possible specimens.[28] That November, Thomas Jefferson wrote again to Clark asking for fossils, this time saying that there was no expense he would be unwilling to pay to obtain them.[29] Despite Jefferson's fervent desire for fossils Clark was prevented from obtaining them by hostile Natives and harsh winter freezing.[30] February, 1784 Clark wrote back to Jefferson, promising to send fossils although no-one knows if Clark was ever able to actually able to obtain them.[31]

The next year, Jefferson published 200 copies of his Notes on the State of Virginia. The section on the minerals and animals of Virginia included a discussion of the "Mammoth". He rejected the idea that the mammoth could be extinct and drew from the lore of local indigenous people that to speculate that it may survive in the unexplored regions to the north and west of North America. He speculated that it had become locally extirpated in the east because the indigenous people had killed so much of the local game to trade their skins with European colonists.[32] Jefferson refuted the proposal that the Big Bone Lick molars were hippopotamus molars while the tusks were of elephants by noting that both the tusks and molars are always found associated but with no elephant-like molars or hippopotamus bones present to make up the rest of the animals. He therefore concluded it was simpler to ascribe the remains to a single kind of animal.[33] He also noted that the cusps on the teeth and the large size of its body distinguished it from both modern elephants and hippopotamus and the local climate was too cold for both besides. Jefferson disagreed with proposals that the Ohio River region must once have been warm enough to sustain elephant populations, but thought that the "mammoth" was instead an elephant-like animal suited to colder climates.[34] Jefferson also saw the existence of the colossal mammoth as a strong rebuttal against the idea that the life of the New World was degenerate compared to life in the Old World.[35] The mammoth quickly became a symbol of American patriotism and equality with the Old World.[27] In 1795 future president William Henry Harrison filled 13 large barrels full of fossils taken from Big Bone Lick. He sent the fossils by boat to Pittsburgh, however since the specimens never made it they may have been lost in a shipwreck.[36] During the 1790s James Taylor also made many trips to Big Bone Lick.[37]

The collection of fossils at Big Bone Lick continued into the 19th century. As more and more fossils were uncovered the number of species represented at the site likewise grew. On September 6, 1807

Columbian mammoths were first recognized among fossils from Big Bone Lick even though these remains had been curated by the Academy for Natural Sciences since the early 1800s.[50]

Fossil genera found in Kentucky

Most fossil taxa found in Kentucky are marine invertebrates.[51]

Bryozoans

The Middle and Late Ordovician deposits in Kentucky are exceptionally rich in bryozoans,[52] but bryozoans can be found in Kentucky rocks all the way into the Pennsylvanian period. They may be Kentucky's most common type of fossil.[53]

  • Archimedes, a distinctive genus of Mississippian fenestrate bryozoan known for its screw-like skeletal structure
  • Constellaria, a distinctive genus of Ordovician bryozoan recognizable by its star-shaped monticules
  • Prasopora, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Evactinopora, a Mississippian genus of bryozoan
  • Amplexopora an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Cyphotrypa, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Dekayella, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Hemiphragma, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Eridotrypa, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Homotrypa, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Homotrypella, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan
  • Stigmatella, an Ordovician genus of bryozoan

Sponges

  • Hindia
    , a Devonian genus of sponge
  • Brachiospongia, an Ordovician genus of sponge.

Cnidarians

Brachiopods

Trilobites

Gastropods

Pelecypods

Protected areas

People

Births

Natural history museums

  • Cumberland Inn Museum - Henkelmann Life Science Collection, Williamsburg

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Brachiopods". Kentucky Geological Survey. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Greb (1999); "Fossil-Bearing Rocks", page 1.
  3. ^ a b Picconi (2003); "Ancient Seascapes of the Inland Basins: Clear, shallow environments preserved as limestone", page 93.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Greb (1999); "Types of Fossils", page 1.
  5. ^ a b c d Murray (1974); "Kentucky", page 151.
  6. ^ a b Murray (1974); "Kentucky", page 150.
  7. ^ a b c d Phelps, Springer, Scotchmoor, and Sarah Rieboldt (2003); "Paleontology and geology".
  8. ^ a b Picconi (2003); "Ancient Landscapes of the Inland Basins: Swamp environments preserved as dark shale or siltstone", page 94.
  9. ^ a b c d Murray (1974); "Kentucky", page 152.
  10. ^ Mayor (2005); "Fossil Footprints", page 50.
  11. ^ Mayor (2005); "Giant Bison and the Witch Buffalo", pages 28-29.
  12. ^ Mayor (2005); "Giant Bison and the Witch Buffalo", page 29.
  13. ^ a b Mayor (2005); "Giant Bison and the Witch Buffalo", page 27.
  14. ^ Mayor (2005); "Giant Bison and the Witch Buffalo", pages 27-28.
  15. ^ Mayor (2005); "Giant Bison and the Witch Buffalo", page 28.
  16. ^ Picconi (2003); "Ice Age environments recorded by unconsolidated sediment", page 101.
  17. ^ Mayor (2005); "Introduction: Marsh Monsters of Big Bone Lick", pages 1-2.
  18. ^ Mayor (2005); "Introduction: Marsh Monsters of Big Bone Lick", page .
  19. ^ Mayor (2005); "Introduction: Marsh Monsters of Big Bone Lick", page 2.
  20. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Gathering the Bones", page 33.
  21. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Gathering the Bones", page 35.
  22. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Indian Accounts of Great Buffalo", page 24.
  23. ^ a b Hedeen (2008); "Animal Incognitum", page 46.
  24. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Animal Incognitum", pages 46-47.
  25. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Animal Incognitum", page 51.
  26. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", page 57.
  27. ^ a b c Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", page 65.
  28. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", pages 65-66.
  29. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", pages 66-67.
  30. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", page 67.
  31. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", pages 67-68.
  32. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", pages 62-63.
  33. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", page 63-64.
  34. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", page 64.
  35. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Thomas Jefferson Takes an Interest", pages 64-65.
  36. ^ Hedeen (2008); "A Question of Tusks", page 76.
  37. ^ Hedeen (2008); "A Question of Tusks", pages 75-76.
  38. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", page 98.
  39. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", pages 98-99.
  40. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", pages 99-100.
  41. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", page 101.
  42. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", pages 101-102.
  43. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", page 102.
  44. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", page 104.
  45. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", pages 104-105.
  46. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", page 105.
  47. ^ Hedeen (2008); "William Clark's Bountiful Collection", pages 106-107.
  48. ^ a b Hedeen (2008); "The Faunal List Evolves", pages 117-118.
  49. ^ Hedeen (2008); "The Faunal List Evolves", page 115.
  50. ^ Hedeen (2008); "Other Mammoth Changes", pages 131-132.
  51. ^ "Photographs of Fossils Found on KPS Fieldtrips".
  52. ^ Brown, George D. "Trepostomatous Bryozoa from the Logana and Jessamine Limestones (Middle Ordovician) of the Kentucky Bluegrass Region". Journal of Paleontology. 39 (5): 974–1006.
  53. ^ "Bryozoa (Moss animals)". Kentucky Geological Survey.
  54. ^ a b Ross, Reuben James (1967). "CALYMENID AND OTHER ORDOVICIAN TRILOBITES FROM KENTUCKY AND OHIO". US Geological Survey.

References

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External links

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