Two weeks ago, The Dispatch had an editorial promoting a fossil park along the Luxapalila at Propst Park. The article mentioned how the finding of a fossil whale in Alabama had generated national interest. To find national coverage of the discovery of an important fossil, one only needs to look at the banks of the Luxapalila.

In October 2022 articles about the finding of the fossil bones of two new dinosaurs along the Luxapalila in Columbus made print or online editions of leading national popular science publications. The online edition of Smithsonian Magazine reported, “Giant ostrich-like dinosaurs once roamed North America. Rare finds in Mississippi paint a picture of these creatures’ lost world. … Enormous birdlike dinosaurs strutted across Mississippi around 85 million years ago.”

Discovery Magazine reported, “the analysis of fossils from an ancient formation of rock in northern Mississippi has now revealed two species of these ostrich-like dinosaurs, one of which is among the largest in the world.”

Popular Science reported, “Giant ostrich-like dinosaurs give us a glimpse of ancient North America. … A new discovery might be providing serious nightmare fuel for those with ornithophoba.”

The streams and outcroppings around Columbus, Starkville and West Point contain fossils of plants and creatures from the Pleistocene period of about 8,000 to 35,000 years ago and the Upper Cretaceous of about 66 to 90 million years ago. These fossils have attracted national attention since the 1850s when Dr. William Spillman of Columbus discovered a formation full of shark’s teeth at Barton’s Bluff in present-day Clay County.  In 1955 the late Dr. Jack Kaye discovered a formation on the bank of the Luxapalila in Columbus in which he found sharks’ teeth. About 40 years later creek channelization work by the Corps of Engineers in the same area exposed more of the formation.

The new exposures were several beds of hard gray and brown sand along the Luxapalila’s banks that contained a wide array of 85-million-year-old fossils, including dinosaurs. According to The Geology of Mississippi by Dockery and Thompson, University Press of Mississippi, MDEQ, 2016, “The banks of the creek in Columbus have produced a greater number of dinosaur remains than any other site in the state.” George Phillips, paleontologist at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and a leading researcher of the new dinosaurs, has collected fossils of several different dinosaurs along the creek. While dinosaur bones are uncommon, shark, sawfish, ray and saber-toothed fish teeth are very common in several places along the creek bank. Other fossils found there include mosasaur, plesiosaur, turtle, and crocodile. The dinosaurs included raptor, tyrannosaur, hadrosaur and ornithomimosaur. The ornithomimosaurs were two types, one large and the other smaller and are the previously unknown dinosaurs. It has only been in the last couple of years that enough of the bones have been found that an identification could be made.

The bone casts from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science that are in the photograph were provided by George Phillips and described as, “The smaller bone (MMNS VP-6378) is a pedal phalanx – specifically from the 2nd toe – of an ornithomimosaur (‘ostrich-mimic’ dinosaur). It was collected by Eric Loftis in 1997. The larger element (VP-6183) is the 4th metatarsal – outer weight-supporting foot bone – of a large-bodied ornithomimosaur. It was collected by former Columbus resident Richard Rolke in 2001. They are from a fossil ‘bone bed’ in Columbus about 85 million years old. Dinosaur bones are extremely rare in the eastern U.S. With the publication of the paper last year – Chinzorig et al., 2022 – Columbus, Mississippi, can now boast that it has the greatest number of individual ornithomimosaur remains (from a single locality) than any other state in eastern North America.”

Sites along the creek provide a fascinating window into life here 85 million years ago. Other places have developed fossil parks that both attract visitors and provide a fun educational setting for young and old. There is a popular fossil park at Frankstown about 10 miles north of Tupelo. The idea of such a park has been discussed in Columbus since 2016 but with little headway.

The mayor has suggested that if a fossil park were on the Luxapalila, possibly at Propst Park, and included a canoe and kayak run on the creek, then Columbus would offer a unique blend of cultural and natural history that would be unrivaled in the region. The beauty of the idea is that it would be an inexpensive project with great potential and a fantastic educational opportunity. With a little effort and not a lot of expense, think about what Columbus would then have to offer tourists and residents alike. And what child would not love to have the chance to find a dinosaur bone? While those bones are rare here, sharks’ teeth and other fossils are very common in the Luxapalila.

The best exhibit focusing on fossils from Mississippi is at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson.  Locally there are fossil exhibits at the Dunn-Seiller Geology Museum at Mississippi State University and at MUW’s Plymouth Bluff Center.

Rufus Ward is a local historian.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

READER FAVORITES

• 

  Our View: Selfish people don’t plant flowers

  By Dispatch Editorial Board • 2 days ago

• 

  Slimantics: Redistricting by another name is no less offensive

  By Slim Smith • 20 hours ago

• 

  Our View: We don’t want to hear, ‘there’s nothing to do’

  By Dispatch Editorial Board • 20 hours ago