Prehistoric fish fossil unearthed at Zion National Park

Written by Stephanie DeGraw
October 23, 2023

ST. GEORGE — A prehistoric, 200 million-year-old fish has been uncovered in Zion National Park recently, according to officials from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site. 

Paleontologist and Curator of the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site Andrew Milner shows the ancient fish fossil that was recently discovered at Zion National Park, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2023 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

“It is an important find that enhances our understanding of fish and the environment in which they lived millions of years ago,” Conner Bennett, scientists-in-parks paleontology assistant, told St. George News. 

Bennett said the fossil bones may be skull elements of a lower Jurassic coelacanth, a lobe-finned fish whose descendants are still alive today. This fossilized fish lived in a freshwater environment, while present-day species live in saltwater. He said the coelacanth bones were recovered recently by a National Park Service and St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site team. 

This coelacanth discovery is currently the most significant body fossil collected at Zion National Park, said Bennett, who added that comparing this fossil to coelacanths recorded from other areas helps paleontologists understand species diversity during the Lower Jurassic period. 

“This fossil is a promising discovery indicating that conditions were right for preserving body fossils in the Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation at Zion National Park,” Bennett said. “This suggests more body fossils may be found in the rocks of Zion.”

Paleontologist and curator of the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site Andrew Milner told St. George News he is working with Utah Paleontologist Jim Kirkland, and they are in the process of formally describing this species of coelacanth.

Milner said the ancient fish skeleton indicates the past presence of a freshwater lake in Zion. These fish are an ancient group of lobe-finned fish that are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapod, which includes reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. 

Deputy curator and collections manager Jaleesa Buchwitz said the fossil they are studying has bones of coelacanths from about 200 million years ago, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2023 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

The fossil discovery is related to the modern Coelacanth, a fish that lives in the Indian Ocean. Jaleesa Buchwitz, deputy curator and collections manager for the discovery site, said the fossil they are studying features bones of pre-historic coelacanths from about 200 million years ago.

Buchwitz said although they don’t look exactly like present-day fish, they would have very similar fin arrangements. She added the fossil discovery in Zion is notable since it’s the same age of rocks as the ones found at the Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm in St. George.

“It means we can expand the ecosystem from here to Zion National Park,” Buchwitz said.

However, one disadvantage to this discovery, Milner said, is that the fossil was found in a national park.

“You can’t just go walk in and start digging, ripping open with big excavating and uncovering big surfaces (in national parks). But we’re able to do that here at the center,” Milner said. “So we can open up major quarries and find lots of really cool fossils. I’m sure there’s stuff like this in Zion National Park and on the area’s Bureau of Land Management land and private land. St. George has built over a giant fossil site.”

To better understand the find, the paleontologists use detailed 3D images of some significant fossil sites throughout Zion. Photogrammetry is a computer modeling method that creates 3D digital models of objects from photographs taken in the field. By using photogrammetry to make models of these sites, Bennett said the park and dinosaur site can keep digital records of the dimensions, number, and types of tracks and fossils as they are found. 

“This also allows us to better monitor track-sites by quantifying erosion over time,” Bennett said. 

Photogrammetry is a new computer imaging program made possible by funding from the nonprofit Zion Forever Project.

Zachary Almaguer, director of marketing and communications for the nonprofit, said that erosion threatens many of the fossils in the park. 

“Capturing these images helps preserve them and share that educational value. But the other benefit of taking those digital images is that now the resource is not degraded,” Almaguer said. “It doesn’t require the removal of the fossil from the rock; it gets to remain within its rock layers.

“And that really helps tell the story not just of the paleontology and the fossils but also the geology and helps those subject matter experts begin to understand the timelines and the history of some of those significant sites. We’re just honored to be able to provide the funding necessary for those parks subject matter experts to do their job.”

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie DeGraw is an award-winning journalist. For 25 years, she engaged in journalism, broadcasting and public relations. DeGraw worked for the Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press and The City Journals. She was a reporter for a CBS television station in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Broadcasting.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!