Fossilized Fish

3D Model

Text near fossil: The layer in which all of these fossils were preserved is part of the Topeka Formation which formed during Upper Pennsylvanian or approximately 250 million years ago. The Topeka Formation consists of marine limestones and shales which were deposited on the floor of the shallow seas that invaded and retreated repeatedly across Kansas during the Pennsylvanian Period. Since the fossil plants and animals found at the quarry indicate a non-marine enviroment, this region must have been occupied by a bay or estuary at the mouth of a river that flowed into the sea in which the rest of the Topeka Formation was accumulating.