Fossils of SW Ohio are Treasures to Me September 2005
Southwestern Ohio is an area rich with fossils. If you are unfamiliar with Ohio history, we are basically at the edge of the glacier field from the last ice age. Our undeveloped land and streams literally overflow with fossils. My favorites are the ones from the Devonian Period (approximately 385-359 million years ago) for no other reason than I seem to have a knack for finding them.
On our days off, Peter, Pierson and I will frequently pile into the car with empty backpacks to scour local parks for fossils. We will wade through streams to reach relatively untouched shores to search for fossil treasure troves. The 'golden chalice' of the SW Ohio fossil hunter is a trilobite. The official state fossil of Ohio is the Isotelus, a trilobite that can be found in lengths up to 30 inches.
I have found a number of fossils that are museum quality. In fact, a few years ago when we visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., Peter, Pierson and I walked through their Midwestern states fossil display saying, "got it, got it, got better, got better, don't have it, have way better." They only had a few fossils that we did not yet have, specifically the trilobite.
Peter and I travel to the Tucson Gem Show every year and purchase fossils from a few Moroccan fossil dealers. Apparently, Morocco is flush with sheets of granite and marble that are simply nothing but fossils. (I'd love to go to Morocco someday and see it for myself.) So we own several Moroccan-born trilobites, some quite large. However, we had never found a trilobite ourselves. It was a search we were determined to complete.
Peter was mountain-biking in a nearby park and discovered a stream. We all went to search for fossils and I discovered many that I had in abundance. Pierson called me over to the small cliff where he noticed a few interesting things. I looked up and saw the rear end of what looked like a trilobite. Frequently the end or head of trilobites are seen in a rock, but if the rock is chipped away there is nothing else there-no body, no nothing. I was cautiously optimistic as I dug into the clay with my fingertips, trying to remain calm.
It did not seem like this fossil was embedded in a rock. I kept digging and unearthed a gravel and clay covered lump. I washed the gravel and dirt away in the stream slowly, revealing a perfect Flexicalymene trilobite. With a whoop, I yelled to Peter that I found a trilobite. He came to see it and we discovered that it was a full body and head with everything but antennae. Pierson was jealous and immediately returned to the cliff to check for more trilobites.
There was some impacted clay which I gently teased away with jewelry files and picks and the fabulous trilobite now sits on a shelf in our family room. It was a great day that we will never forget. The rush of finding that trilobite is something so small but so pleasurable. I never tire of fossil-hunting, even on days when I leave empty-handed.