The Mystical Places In Indiana Where Prehistoric Beasts Once Roamed
By Tori Jane|Published November 16, 2021
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
There’s something about learning the natural history of where you live that’s ridiculously interesting. It’s quite a privilege to be able to essentially travel back in time to learn about various critters that used to live on the grounds we do today thanks to modern science. Did you know that there are no dinosaur fossils that have been found in Indiana to date? It’s unlikely that they didn’t live here, but interestingly, Indiana has very few remnants of rock and sediment from the Mesozoic era – where any dinos who did call our state home would likely be found – to go through. There have been several discoveries, however, of some truly intriguing creatures that did roam the land, for sure, eons ago. Despite the lack of dinosaurs, there was still plenty of prehistoric life in Indiana that we can study today.
Over the years, there have been several species of prehistoric beasts discovered all over the state.
Mastodons and woolly mammoths, for example, have been discovered in varied parts of Indiana, including Hebron in Porter County and near Oaktown, south of modern-day Terre Haute.
Hebron's history goes way back - obviously not just as a town, but as a happening place for prehistoric life.
The first indigenous tribes of Indiana in this region referred to mammoths and mastodons as "water monsters." It's much more likely that they, too, were encountering the fossils and remains of these beasts as opposed to seeing the animals in the flesh.
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To date, around 300 mastodons and woolly mammoths have been found in Indiana.
The thing about the short-faced bear, though, is that there has only ever been a single one found in Indiana. It was found in Fulton County in 1967, and despite efforts, no others have since been recovered. It's not likely that this guy was all by himself up here, though it is a possibility. It's more likely that others have simply not yet been discovered, or the remains have been lost over time.
Most commonly, however, you'll find the fossils and remains of various brachiopods.
These little guys - who used to live in oceans that existed where Indiana does now - are quite plentiful all over the state. However, two of the easiest places to find them are at Fall of the Ohio State Park and at Richmond's DIY Whitewater Valley fossil hunts. Both of these activities require tickets and plenty of information before you go, though, so make sure to check the official websites for all the important details.
So, sure. Maybe Indiana doesn't have any dinosaur remains, but we sure do have some other cool things.
It's amazing how rocks, minerals, and fossilized or skeletal remains can paint us a picture of what life was like in Indiana long before any of us were born (or our great-great-great-great-great grandparents were born, either).
So, what do you think? Have you ever found any interesting fossils in Indiana? Tell us about your finds in the comments, and if you have a cool place, trail, restaurant, or anything else you’d like to see us feature sometime, let us know by filling out this form.
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