A fossil is part of a plant or animal from the past that has been preserved in the earth. The discovery of fossils is exciting because it uncovers the earth's history from millions of years ago. Martin Marietta Materials has been fortunate enough to discover several fossil artifacts over the years. In 1985, fossils were unearthed at a quarry in Kentucky. Four employees at the plant found a jawbone, a tusk and some teeth belonging to a woolly mammoth. Woolly mammoths are related to the elephant and once lived in various areas across the United States.

In 1989, an employee at a quarry in Virginia noticed 17 evenly spaced footprints in the rock. The United States Geological Survey was called to inspect the findings. The scientists soon discovered that dinosaurs called dilophosaurs created these tracks. Dilophosaurs lived during the Triassic Period, which was 215 million years ago! These creatures walked upright on two legs with three-toed feet and had small arms, small hands and long tails. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Virginia Museum of Natural History have nice displays of these footprints.

Fossil Fact: From the prints, scientists determined that dilophosaurs were about 7 feet tall, 15 feet long and weighed about 350-400 pounds!

Fossil Fact: Dilophosaurs existed 150 million years before larger dinosaurs such as the well-known Tyrannosaurus Rex!