Ten years ago I was digging around in a dirt pile… because that was what I did for fun, I guess. This pile of “dirt” consisted of mostly large, layered sandstone-like rocks. Living in Jackson, MI didn’t provide many outdoorsy experiences, but I found refuge in a more secluded area of the neighborhood which contained said pile of dirt. One day, while rummaging around, I happened upon this:
Throughout the rest of the time my family lived there, I found countless more of these strange fossils. There were huge layered boulders full of them. After moving we tossed the majority. But I kept a few. Now, eight years later, I’m in Jackson again. I decided to go back to my old neighborhood and see if the rock hill was still there. Sure enough, the area is as abandoned as ever and the pile of rocks remains. It’s harder to find the fossils now as a lot of them have been washed down the hill or crushed. It turns out these fossils are a type of straight-shelled nautiloid. According to my dictionary nautiloids are “a mollusk of a group of mainly extinct marine mollusks.” Basically little squid-like creatures.
The scads of crappy little fossils I found apparently swam in the sea “millions of years ago.” I think it would be interesting to dig up that plot of land and see what else are in those layered boulders. If I’m ever extremely desperate for money, fine specimens of nautiloid fossils can sell online anywhere from twenty to a hundred bucks. Yes, I looked it up. So… who has a good shovel?
