Where to Find Fossils in Missouri
The geology of Missouri is diverse, and therefore you can find a wide range of fossils in the state. For example, the rocks of the St. Francois Mountains in the southeastern part of the state are some of the oldest in the Midwest, dating back 1.5 billion years. According to the Missouri Fossils study by Bruce L. Stinchcomb, Ph.D, strata from the Precambrian to Pleistocene eras crop out within the state, and many of these contain fossils.
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Mastodon State Historic Site
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Located 20 miles south of St. Louis off Interstate 55 in Jefferson County is the Mastodon State Historic Site. This site contains the Kimmswick Bone Bed, where scientists found the first true evidence that humans coexisted with the American mastodon in eastern North America. Bones of mastodons and other extinct animals were discovered here in the early 1800s. Visitors can walk to the Kimmswick Bone Beds to see where the bones and Paleo-Indian artifacts were found.
St. Francois Mountains
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In the St. Francois Mountains of southeast Missouri, you can find fossils of marine animals preserved in the sediments eroded from the mountains. In Madison County on the eastern side of the mountains, you can find Cambrian-era fossils in the thin beds of shale and shaley limestones in dolomite. Fossils include 12 species of brachiopods, 41 species of trilobites,corals, crinoid fragments and gastropods.
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St. Louis, I-44
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In St. Louis, near the intersection of Interstates 44 and 244 and west of the intersection along I-44, you can find trilobites, mollusks, Platyceras gastropods and echinoids.in multi-colored shale from the Mississippian age, Warsaw formation. The shale is interbedded with crinoidal limestone, underlain by Keokuk limestone. The layer over top is Salem limestone.
St. Louis, I-170
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In road cuts on Interstate 170, on the eastern side of Lambert International Airport, you can find invertebrates and marine vertebrates in the shales, coal and limestone. You may also find macrofossils -- preserved remains large enough to see without a microscope -- in the phosphate nodules. These fossils are from the Pennsylvanian age, Bandera and Altamont formations.
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References
- Mastodon State Historic Site: General Information
- Lakeneosho.org: The I-170 Pennsylvanian Exposure in St. Louis, Missouri
- Fossil Sites: US And Canadian Fossil Sites -- Data for Missouri
- Fantastic Caverns Science Research Program: Ozark Adventure
- GeoWorld: Prehistoric Missouri
- Lakeneosho.org: Missouri Fossils
Resources
- Photo Credit fossile image by alberto maisto from Fotolia.com
