Geology & Fossils
Most Michigan fossils represent either the ancient Paleozoic Era or the recent Pleistocene Epoch, or Ice Age. Actually, Michigan’s oldest fossils predate the Paleozoic Era. Algal stromatolites — fossils of plantlike creatures called algae — found in the Canadian, or Laurentian, Shield in northern Michigan — date back to the middle of the Precambrian Era. Can you imagine creatures that lived more than half a billion years ago?
Michigan’s oldest known vertebrate fossils are Devonian (345-395 million years ago) fishes, such as placoderms and primitive sharks. Fossil land plants from the Devonian and Mississippian periods, more than 300 million years ago, show that Michigan wasn’t always underwater, however. Other fossils that indicate dry land include lungfish burrows from the Pennsylvanian Period, which ended about 280 million years ago, and pollen from the Mesozoic Era (65-230 million years ago), when dinosaurs stalked the land.
Michigan’s Mammoth Meat-Eater
Michigan boasts fossils of the largest carnivore known. No, not Tyrannosaurus, the sperm whale!
This doesn’t mean that Michigan was entirely underwater. Rather, the Great Lakes were larger and were connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
Today, sperm whales are generally found far from land, where seas are deep. There they feed on the largest known invertebrate — the giant squid.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
