Ky. man finds shark fossil in mine

[April 11, 2011]  LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- A miner has found a fossil from a shark jawbone deep in a central Kentucky mine and now it is on display at the University of Kentucky.

The fossil was found in February in Webster County, Ky., where 25-year-old miner Jay Wright was working to bolt a roof 700 feet underground. The 300-million-year-old black jawbone is believed to be from a shark from the Edestus genus that once swam the seas over what is now Kentucky.

Wright said in an interview Friday with The Lexington Herald Leader that his first thought was "Gosh, what is this thing?"

Jerry Weisenfluh, associate director of the Kentucky Geological Survey in Lexington, said a fossil this large is rare. It's now on display in the lobby of UK's Mines and Minerals building.

[Associated Press]

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