PC: Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
A six-year-old boy searching for fossils at a Nebraska park made a discovery not recorded in the state for more than 55 years. Conulariids lived in Nebraska between approximately 200 million and 500 million years ago. The only other known conulariid fossils found in the state were discovered more than 55 years ago in Louisville and Weeping Water, according to Outdoor Nebraska.
Leo Youngdahl, who lives in Eagle, turned over a large rock at Schramm Park State Recreation Area near Gretna and found the imprint of a conulariid, an ancient marine animal with a jellyfish-like body shaped like an upside-down pyramid. The only other known examples in the state were found in Louisville and Weeping Water. Staff plan to keep the fossil at Schramm for educational programmes. Researchers identified Leo’s specimen by its distinctive herringbone-shaped pattern, which had left an imprint in the limestone.
How will the rare marine fossil help educate visitors
He also recalled being told that his find was “rarer to find than a mammoth bone. Ekue said it was amazing that, among all the rocks in the Schramm outcrop, Leo picked up this one, recognised it as a fossil and thought to ask about it. The discovery was exciting for Leo for another reason. He had never found a complete fossil before, especially one so large. Leo will not be taking the fossil home, and he does not mind. It will remain at Schramm, where staff plan to use it in educational programmes.