It’s big, it’s heavy, and it’s about 450 million years old. But that’s about all experts know about the “Godzillus” fossil found in northern Kentucky last year.
The Associated Press reports that the “Godzillus” fossil weighs about 150-pounds, is about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. Experts are not sure if it the fossil belonged to an animal or some sort of plant life.
Ben Dattilo, an assistant professor of geology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said:
“We are looking for people who might have an idea of what it is.”
Ron Fine, the Dayton, Ohio, amateur paleontologist who found the Godzillus, added:
“This is the ultimate cold case… Like Godzilla, it’s a primordial beast that found its way to the modern era.”
The AP reports that the fossil is the largest ever recovered from the same time period in the Cincinnati area.
Fine said:
“When I finally finished it was three-and-a-half feet wide and six-and-a-half feet long, In a world of thumb-sized fossils, that’s gigantic! Most fossils around here are small, the size of your thumbnail or your thumb. This thing’s huge.”
Several scientists had a chance to view the strange fossil at the Geological Society of America meeting at the Dayton Convention Center on Tuesday. David Meyer, a UC geology professor, said:
“This thing has us stumped…. Some of its surface looks like scales. But this thing is not boney. It is not a fish…. Cincinnati was covered by a sea, 100 to 200 feet deep… Primitive shellfish lived in it. But no fish. It’s definitely a new discovery… And we’re sure it’s biological. We just don’t know yet exactly what it is.”
