Prehistoric Mississippi

Geology & Fossils

In the extreme northeast corner of Mississippi is a hilly region geologists call the Interior Low Plateaus. Here one can find fossils of marine invertebrates that lived more than 230 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era.

However, most of Mississippi lies within the Gulf Coastal Plain. This region is also rich in fossils of marine animals. But Coastal Plain fossils represent animals that lived during the Cenozoic Era, which has not yet ended. What about the Mesozoic Era, or Age of Dinosaurs? Most Mesozoic rocks were long ago eroded, taking evidence of dinosaurs with them, or lie buried under younger rocks.

Like neighboring Alabama, Mississippi is famous for its prehistoric whales. Far more common are fossils of Cenozoic marine invertebrates. These include corals, sponges, and mollusks.

Fossils of animals that lived during the Pleistocene Epoch, or Ice Age, are scattered across the state. These often consist of scattered bones or teeth of such animals as mastodons and horses. Mastodon teeth are especially common in Mississippi and Alabama where Ice Age rivers once flowed. During the New Madrid Earthquake — actually a series of powerful quakes from 1811-1812 — a muskox skull popped out of the earth in Mississippi!