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ST. GEORGE — A prehistoric, 200-million-year-old fish has been uncovered in Zion National Park recently, according to officials from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site.
"It is an important find that enhances our understanding of fish and the environment in which they lived millions of years ago," Conner Bennett, scientists-in-parks paleontology assistant, told St. George News.
Bennett said the fossil bones may be skull elements of a lower Jurassic coelacanth, a lobe-finned fish whose descendants are still alive today. This fossilized fish lived in a freshwater environment, while present-day species live in saltwater. He said the coelacanth bones were recovered recently by a National Park Service and St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site team.
This coelacanth discovery is currently the most significant body fossil collected at Zion National Park, said Bennett, who added that comparing this fossil to coelacanths recorded from other areas helps paleontologists understand species diversity during the Lower Jurassic period.
"This fossil is a promising discovery indicating that conditions were right for preserving body fossils in the Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation at Zion National Park," Bennett said. "This suggests more body fossils may be found in the rocks of Zion."
