Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 4 hrs ago
Six-year-old finds rare marine fossil in Nebraska park
Six-year-old Leo Youngdahl found a rare fossil at Schramm Park State Recreation Area near Gretna, Nebraska.
He was turning over a rock while looking for a crinoid, another kind of fossil.
Instead, he found a 2.75-inch conulariid, an ancient marine animal related to the group that includes jellyfish.
The fossil is the first known conulariid found in Nebraska in more than 55 years; earlier state specimens came from Louisville and Weeping Water.
Paleontologists identified it from a herringbone-like imprint in the limestone, which preserves the animal’s surface pattern.
The find adds to evidence of Nebraska’s ancient saltwater sea, when marine animals lived in the region.
Six-year-old Leo Youngdahl found a rare marine fossil at Schramm Park State Recreation Area in Nebraska.
The fossil was identified as a conulariid, the first known find of this kind in Nebraska in more than 55 years.
Youngdahl found it while turning over a rock during a late-summer event, while searching for a crinoid.
The 2.75-inch fossil is a patterned imprint in limestone, identified by experts from the University of Nebraska State Museum.
Conulariids were ancient marine animals related to the group that includes jellyfish.
- Who
- Six-year-old Leo Youngdahl found the fossil; paleontologist Shane Tucker and geologist Bob Diffendal identified it.
- What
- A rare conulariid fossil was found. It is the first known conulariid find in Nebraska in more than 55 years.
- When
- During a late-summer Rafting and Rocks event; the year is not stated.
- Where
- Schramm Park State Recreation Area near Gretna, Nebraska.
- Why
- Youngdahl was turning over a rock while looking for a crinoid.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The only other known Nebraska conulariid specimens were found in Louisville and Weeping Water.
Leo Youngdahl found the fossil while turning over a rock during a Rafting and Rocks event at Schramm Park.
Kelly Ekue shared a photo with a geologist, who passed it along to Shane Tucker and Bob Diffendal for identification.
- Finder
- Leo Youngdahl, age six
- Location
- Schramm Park State Recreation Area near Gretna, Nebraska
- Fossil
- Conulariid, 2.75 inches (7 centimeters) long
- Previous Nebraska finds
- More than 55 years earlier, in Louisville and Weeping Water
- Identified by
- Shane Tucker and Bob Diffendal of the University of Nebraska State Museum
What people are saying
I’ve been leading programs at the outcrop for over seven years, and there are six main types of fossils we find
This fossil didn’t look anything like any of the species we see
It was larger and seemed fish-like