Many naturalists can point to collecting fossils as formative to their sense of curiosity about the natural world. There’s something mysterious and even miraculous about holding a once-living relic in your hand that may be millions of years old. Volunteer Naturalist, Leslie Senn captures this curiosity in her informative videos. We hope you are inspired to go looking for clues of this ancient past in many Bernheim locations such as Rock Run Loop, Cull Hollow Trail, and just about any exposed rocky area.
Because Bernheim has a no collection policy, we encourage you to take pictures of your discoveries and leave the fossils for someone else to find.
Questions to Ponder: When you find a fossil or a group of them, what do you notice? Are they embedded in rocks or loose? Do they remind you of plants, animals, or anything else? Maybe they remind you of the time when you found your first fossil. Do you wonder how those organisms lived so long ago, or what the climate was like? What do fossils make you wonder about?
Activities at Home: Look for fossils in your own backyard or neighborhood. They may be more common than you think. Make your own fossil with instructions from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. See links below.
Link to Learn More:
Bernheim Under the Sea, by Volunteer Naturalist, Ken Johnson
Kentucky Geological Survey
Louisville Fossils Blog
Sonora Desert Museum