Arkansas Once Had So Many Sharks It's Now a Shark Skeleton Hot Spot

Arkansas Once Had So Many Sharks It's Now a Shark Skeleton Hot Spot

A geological formation known as the Fayetteville Shale has preserved dozens of three-dimensional shark skeletons dating back roughly 326 million years, and all in a part of the United States not typically known for sharks, or even oceans: Northwestern Arkansas. In a new study published in Geobios, researchers explain that the ancient seafloor where these sharks settled was low in oxygen and highly acidic. That chemical brew slowed bacterial deca…

How an ancient ocean floor turned Arkansas into a shark foss treasure

More than 300 million years ago, much of what is now Arkansas lay beneath a shallow sea. Today, that ancient seafloor has made the region one of the most remarkable places in the world for shark fossils. In northwestern Arkansas, rock layers known as the Fayetteville Shale have preserved dozens of rare shark skeletons from […] The post How an ancient ocean floor turned Arkansas into a shark foss treasure appeared first on Knowridge Science Repor…