Fish ribcage

by Kristen Jones
(Covington Kentucky US)

My father found this in Warsaw Kentucky, we are struggling to identify this creature.

Comments for Fish ribcage

The nautiloids and Ordovician Rocks
by: Doug

You live in a fossil rich part of the country. Geologists call this area the Cincinnati Arch. It covers a large area in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The rocks at the surface here are from the Ordovician Period and are about 450 million years old.

This part of North America was covered by a shallow sea during the Ordovician so the fossils found there are sea creatures especially ones with some kind of shell. Your fossil appears to be the shell of a nautiloid which was the dominant predator of the time.

To learn more about nautiloids:
https://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/orthoceras.html

For more info on the Ordovician Period:
https://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/ordovician_period.html

This will help you put 450 million years in prospective:
https://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/geologic_time_line.html

And to learn about the Cincinnati Arch:
http://ncad.net/Gp/Erla/ErlaGeol.htm

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