Science

Scientists ‘Stumped’ by the 150-Pound ‘Godzillus’ Fossil Found in Ohio

Scientists Stumped: Unsure if Giant Fossil Found in Ohio Is Animal, Plant or Mineral
(Photo: AP/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gary Landers)

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Experts are trying to figure out what a fossil dubbed “Godzillus” used to be.

The 150-pound fossil recovered last year in northern Kentucky is more than 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. To the untrained eye, it looks like a bunch of rocks or a concrete blob. Experts are trying to determine whether it was an animal, mineral or a form of plant life from a time when the Cincinnati region was underwater.

Scientists at a Geological Society of America meeting viewed it Tuesday at the Dayton Convention Center in Ohio.

“We are looking for people who might have an idea of what it is,” said Ben Dattilo, an assistant professor of geology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Scientists say the fossil is 450 million years old. University of Cincinnati geologist Carl Brett said it’s the largest fossil ever extracted from that era in the Cincinnati region.

“This is the ultimate cold case,” said Ron Fine, the Dayton, Ohio, amateur paleontologist who spotted the fossil on a hillside last year and gave it its name.

“Like Godzilla, it’s a primordial beast that found its way to the modern era,” Fine said. Now 43, he’s been collecting fossils since age 4, and said he saw part of this one on a hillside off Kentucky 17 nearly a year ago.

“Most fossils around here are small, the size of your thumbnail or your thumb,” he said. “This thing’s huge.”

He said it could be an early form of seaweed or kelp.

“This one has us stumped,” said David Meyer, another UC geology professor. Fine shared his find last September at a meeting of the Dry Dredgers, a group of amateur geologists.

Meyer, who wrote a book called “A Sea Without Fish” about the era, said the fossil has intricate patterns that remind him of “goose flesh. Some of its surface also looks like scales. But this thing is not boney. It is not a fish.”

He guesses it could have been something like a sponge.

“Cincinnati was covered by a sea, 100 to 200 feet deep,” Meyer said. “Primitive shellfish lived in it. But no fish.”

Comments (140)

  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:28pm

    Looks like white crackers!

    Report Post »  
    • DarthMims
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 12:16pm

      I actually opened up a box of saltines the other day, and thought I had a box of fossils when I bit into one. Eerie.

      Report Post » DarthMims  
  • South Philly Boy
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:25pm

    It’s an OLDFART DemonCrat

    Report Post » South Philly Boy  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 9:11pm

      The 150-pound fossil recovered last year in northern Kentucky… from a time when the Cincinnati region was underwater.”

      OK, I’m confused. A fossil is found in Kentucky… from a time when Cincinnati was underwater… what am I missing here? I found a geode in my backyard back in 1973 and I’m sure some other place on the Planet was underwater when that Geode was formed there. I don’t get it.

      BTW, that “slab” looks like a piece of Chinese sheetrock that messes with the copper in our houses.

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • Jackie Rogers, Jr.
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 9:29pm

      @ The-Monk,
      Northern Kentucky is a part of the Cincinnati region. I live in Northern Kentucky and am closer to downtown Cincinnati than most Cincinnatians.

      Report Post » Jackie Rogers, Jr.  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 10:00pm

      @Jackie Rogers, Jr.
      Thanks a lot… I really appreciate the Geography lesson. I’ve never been to Kentucky or Cincinnati and I always thought they were further apart.

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • jaylew
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 10:47pm

      He is right…the IRS Cincinnati Service Center is actually in Covington Kentucky across the Ohio river from Downtown Cincy. If you ever see some COPS episodes particularly episodes based in Cincinnati..those Cincy episodes are often spent filming as much in Covington Kentucky as in Cincinnati.

      Report Post » jaylew  
    • Itsjusttim
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 9:41am

      What is it? I just got to know so we can tamper with the earth because that’s what we love to do.

      Report Post » Itsjusttim  
    • Truthbeliever2
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 10:12am

      Tamper with the earth… Alrighty then

      Report Post » Truthbeliever2  
    • chuck_in_st_paul
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 11:57am

      the-monk, get out a map dude, Cincinnati is just across a river from Kentucky and a few miles east of Indiana in a kind of three corners layout.

      Report Post » chuck_in_st_paul  
    • GIDEON612
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 1:17pm

      When millions and or billions are assigned to such things THEY ARE LYING !!!! These dates are assigned by the mythical geological column that does not exist anywhere on earth, except books.

      Facts in this story: From a time when the region was underwater, aka Noah’ flood. & They do not know what it is through the eyes of evolutionary blinders.

      Report Post » GIDEON612  
    • JimS51
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 1:48pm

      ..if I may make a suggestion…after someone says ” I don’t know”…don’t ask any more questions…they told you they don’t know..until they do know, leave them alone…

      Report Post »  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 2:11pm

      Took me a while but finally figured this one out. It’s the fossilized remains of an early James Trafacant hair piece. Should make for some great paper weights for so many lefty loons when broken down.

      Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
    • Dismayed Veteran
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 2:17pm

      If you go, cross the river to Covington and eat at Mike Fink’s. Great food. BTW, the Cincinnati airport is really in Kentucky.

      Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • 4xeverything
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 6:56pm

      I live in Cincinnati and you can find fossils by the dozen in any shallow creek or in just about any rock you pick up. They usually are trilobites, coral, or shells. My guess is hat this fossil is along those same lines. Maybe kelp or coral.

      And to those who don’t know the area very well, we call the Greater Cincinnati area the tri-state area. Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky are linked by the I-275 belt loop and you can find yourself in three different states just going about your normal daily errands.

      Report Post » 4xeverything  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 8:15pm

      @chuck_in_st_paul
      After reading your last 10 posts, newbie troll, I mapped you out as an Obama supporter. You did notice my sincere thanks to Jackie Rogers, Jr. for setting me straight, right?

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • blair152
      Posted on April 27, 2012 at 3:24pm

      A small dinosaur, maybe?

      Report Post »  
  • PapaPatriarch
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:06pm

    I think It’s a giant pre-flood lichen.

    Report Post » PapaPatriarch  
    • jdtanker
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 9:18pm

      I think we are all getting tired of this millions of years crap. Fossils were made by the flood. Fossilizing has to happen rapidly under pressure without the presence of oxygen, otherwise it will decompose before turning to stone.

      Report Post » jdtanker  
    • Pouncing Porcupine
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 10:11pm

      The true History of the world makes for fascinating discussion. Every night at bedtime, my children bombard me with questions about the pre-flood world and what it was like, the Flood and its aftermath (iceage), etc., etc.

      I describe for them a nightmarish world in which everyone (except Noah’s House) was totally corrupt and living in a crime ridden world ruled by evil giants (Genesis 6). A world so dangerous that God literally HAD to destoy it. A world in which if the giants didn’t eat you, the dragons (dinos) would. Sounds like the stuff of fairy tales, but it’s all true, and the Greek myths are only slight embellishments of actual events. Zeus? Adam. Poseiden? Noah.


      Believe it.

      Report Post » Pouncing Porcupine  
    • Anonymouse.
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 8:45am

      Not sure which is more amazing: the ignorant and absurd comments of JDTanker and Porcupine above or the fact that no one else has called BS on their nonsense. Put down your ancient book of myths and deal with reality kids. w o w

      Report Post » Anonymouse.  
    • mdeputy7
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 10:46am

      Actually, pouncing porcupine’s explanations at least have a background. I have long believed a very similar account of the world. If you study the Scriptures, you can actually find much of this to be true.

      Report Post »  
    • CoyoteDKM
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 11:20am

      @ Anonymouse, what I find amazing is your inability to see obvious sarcasm. Apparently, obvious trolls aren’t so obvious to some.

      Report Post »  
    • Tidbit
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 12:00pm

      What about an ancient Chupacabra???

      Report Post » Tidbit  
  • trueamerican40
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:01pm

    Megalodon teeth were found in western North Carolina…I should know, I found them. The whole eastern coast used to be underwater. You have to dig 15-20 feet to find evidence if your lucky.

    Report Post » trueamerican40  
    • Pouncing Porcupine
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 10:58pm

      Marine fossils are found high in the Himalayas. The whole world was Flooded for over a year. The whole face of the planet was re-arranged. The pre-Flood world was more land area than water. Now it is opposite. In the pre-flood world, gold was highly abundant (see Genesis 2:11-12). Now it has all been buried. It didn’t rain in the pre-Flood world, a mist came up from the ground and watered all the vegetation. Due to a vastly different and superior atmospere, and more oxygen rich rivers, organisms grew to be much bigger in the pre-Flood world, e.g., Megalodon and Meganuera. Now organisms are exposed to harmful solar radiation and deprived of the more oxygen-rich air that existed pre-Flood, and are therefore miniature descendants of their ancestors. Dinosaurs have not all gone extinct. Some now still exist as stunted versions of the once mighty dragons that used to roam the earth in great abundance.

      Report Post » Pouncing Porcupine  
    • Anonymouse.
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 8:48am

      Pouncing Porcupine, you’re fantastical delusions are hilarious. Please get some help before you hurt someone. Your comments are delusional nonsense without any basis in fact or reason. Who told you all that poppycock? And why would you believe it???? Holy $%#^%%&*(*!

      Report Post » Anonymouse.  
    • Anonymouse.
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 8:49am

      I was laughing so hard I typed “you’re“ instead of ”your” oops lolololOLOLOLOL

      Report Post » Anonymouse.  
    • Pacapapa
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 11:04am

      @anonymouse
      You should pay attention to Pouncing. The real science does support everything he said. You have just been brainwashed by the PC evolutionists. I know, I used to be just like you until I started investigating it for myself and found out that science supports the Bible more that evolutional hypothesis.

      Report Post »  
    • DarthMims
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 11:53am

      @PACAPAPA, So science says that it never rained on Earth before the flood? I must have missed the science lesson where the laws of hydrodynamics were voted on and enacted by the Church. And it was good.

      Report Post » DarthMims  
    • LemonyFresh
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 12:16pm

      Anon… have you ever stopped to think about how bad you have been duped? You have bought the myth that your are just some worthless meat sack that came from a monkey that came from something that science can only theorize on; seriously the good Dr. Dawkins is who you are trusting in? He could not even say with 100% certainty that there was no creator. I saw it with my own eyes he stammered and stuttered. He could not do it. Darwin’s ORIGIN of SPECIES (on one isolated place on Earth), not origin of life (for the whole planet). The Biblical explanation of creation, if researched, works. And being of the “enlightened” persuasion you should be keen for some scientific evidence. Don’t be afraid to find God in the process (He is not as angry with you as you like to think.)
      http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/

      Report Post » LemonyFresh  
  • Spqr1
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:38pm

    This is why you TeaBeckians don’t know anything, because you clearly don’t WANT to know anything.

    Report Post »  
    • trueamerican40
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:16pm

      Why do you lib-commies assume that we are ‘flat-earthers’? I need remind you that the monarchialists–SOCIALISTS of the Old World once believed that the world was flat. Columbus was a true christian who knew better.

      Report Post » trueamerican40  
    • Toltepeceno
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 9:16pm

      Trueamerican40 You are trying to teach something to a 14 year old pimply faced ******* child that has not been out of his parents basement except for school. He’s a lost cause.

      Report Post » Toltepeceno  
    • Anonymouse.
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 9:02am

      The Young Earthers here wallow in ignornace and myth. Real science is too much for their primitive minds. It would be interesting to see an analysis of their DNA though. Can you imagine what the percentage of Neanderthal would be? YIKES!

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C_bu2ykjO4&feature=youtu.be

      Report Post » Anonymouse.  
    • Leader1776
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 10:29am

      @Anonymouse
      Please inform when Darwin’s theory was proven. Or, is it still a theory. Or are you just having issues spelling DNA?

      Report Post » Leader1776  
    • Pontiac
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 10:52am

      @Leader1776
      Please shutup. You creatards have been a drag on fiscal conservatism for far too long.

      Report Post » Pontiac  
    • SouthSideLib
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 11:53am

      @ Leader- Darwininian evolution is a theory in the same way that gravity is a theory.

      Report Post »  
    • Mister July
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 12:04pm

      AHhhhh, how refreshing to to finally have true academic and open-minded discourse going on! Everyone knows that “shut up you fool” and “your DNA is deficient” are all perfectly acceptable arguments in any peer-reviewed scientific journal; why not on the Blaze?

      Report Post » Mister July  
    • Mister July
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 12:07pm

      @SOUTHSIDELIB – ….pretty sure gravity is a law there, buddy.

      Report Post » Mister July  
    • Spqr1
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 2:52pm

      trueamerican40: Actually, “Old World” science knew the world was round several centuries BC. You’re hanging on to less than 2nd grade knowledge. Thanks for helping to prove my point

      Report Post »  
  • MiCurmudgeon
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:21pm

    A pre-historic progressive…..no known purpose.

    Report Post »  
  • PapaPatriarch
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:07pm

    “Experts are trying to determine whether it was an animal, mineral or a form of plant life from a time when the Cincinnati region was underwater.”
    It‘s called the global flood of Noah’s day, read about it in Genesis.
    BTW there is NO experiment anywhere that can date any fossil at 450 million years old accurately, this date is the scientists opinion.

    Report Post » PapaPatriarch  
    • ProgressiveDeist267
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:15pm

      Something tells I shouldn’t correct you but I have to. The story of Noah’s flood was influenced by earlier Mesopotamia tales like the Epic of Gilgamesh. “In the Epic of Atrahasis, the god Enlil becomes angry with mankind, Enlil convinces the other gods to destroy mankind with a flood but the god Enki favours Atrahasis telling him to build an ark; this allows Atrahasis to survive the flood with his family whilst saving a quantity of animals.” http://www.christianitydisproved.com/bible.html Science is not a guessing game as you say. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/dinosaur-bone-age.htm
      http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/benton.html

      Report Post »  
    • s0ck_monkey
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:26pm

      Yes, there is. Potassium-40 has a half life of 1.3 billion years. And there’s Uranium, Uranium -238, Thorium, and Rubidium.

      I know it doesn’t jive with what a majority of people believe but, like it or not, there ARE things on is planet that are older than 10,000 years.

      Report Post »  
    • Spqr1
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:35pm

      Potassuim/Argon decay. Another TeaBeckian complaining about something they clearly do not understand….

      Report Post »  
    • PapaPatriarch
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:56pm

      I said “accurately”. they date the fossils by the stata layer’s age they are found in, also called circular reasoning. There is no mention of any accuate test that was used here, the story says the scientist simply says it’s that old.

      Report Post » PapaPatriarch  
    • PapaPatriarch
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:03pm

      Using the scientific method, you can only know what rate these elements are decaying now. The variables, you cannot know the starting amount of material, or if the decay was the same the whole 450 mil. years, and if any events affected the proccess over this time (heat,flooding, radiation exposure, etc.). These experiments you mention also yeild many possible results for age, the scientists are alowed to chese numbers that closely fit thier curent theories. there is no exact repeatable scientific method that can date things that old. Too many variables and too many guesses = junk science.

      Report Post » PapaPatriarch  
    • PapaPatriarch
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 8:09pm

      @ProgressiveDeist267
      the fact there is a flood story preserved all over the earth is further evidence it happened, duh.

      Report Post » PapaPatriarch  
    • ShyMan
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 9:02pm

      Walt Brown’s creationscience.com for the explanation on how the flood influenced the Earth’s radioactivity.

      Report Post » ShyMan  
    • Spqr1
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 3:01pm

      PapaPatriarch: Even the most basic knowledge of Nuclear Physics proves your claims wrong. Most of us in Blue States with decent educations systems learned how to do nuclear calculations around the age of 15. Remember, the last GOP/Red State president couldn’t even pronounce nuclear. I’ll best most of you have never even seen an Isotope Chart, let alone know how to read one. Do you think Nuclear Weapons function? Well, newsflash, IT’S THE EXACT, SAME SCIENCE!

      Report Post »  
    • PapaPatriarch
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 9:02pm

      @Spqr1
      I listed 3 variables that could affect a date of 450 million years old. Are variables too hard for you to understand?

      Report Post » PapaPatriarch  
    • Spqr1
      Posted on April 27, 2012 at 12:55am

      And none of them are relevant to the question, anyone who knows even the most basic things about nuclear physics could tell you that. Oh, and the actual POSSIBLE variables, those kinds of things have already been worked out, BY ACTUAL SCIENTISTS…..

      Report Post »  
  • B_rad
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:02pm

    Has anyone seen Helen Thomas since they found this?? Hmmm, makes you wonder.

    Report Post » B_rad  
    • jaylew
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 10:48pm

      LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL beautiful.

      Report Post » jaylew  
    • DarthMims
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 11:59am

      No, this isn’t Helen Thomas, it is ONLY 450 million years old. It would have to be a lot older to be her.

      Report Post » DarthMims  
  • aChameleon
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:58pm

    Better get al gore on the horn and tell him sea levels have been lowering for half a bullion yars.

    Report Post » aChameleon  
    • jnobfan
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:00pm

      How much money are we going to spend on seaweed fossils?

      Report Post »  
  • ZaphodsPlanet
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:54pm

    Man…. at first I thought they were talking about the fat guy with the short sleeve shirt and tie. There’s no way in hell he only weighs 150 lbs.

    Report Post » ZaphodsPlanet  
  • txmike
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:46pm

    they said it was found last year so that makes it 450,000,001 years old.

    *rimshot

    Report Post » txmike  
  • LibsAndCopKillersALoveStory
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:45pm

    Sounds like a government grant is needed here!

    Report Post » LibsAndCopKillersALoveStory  
  • Gwynedd_foke
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:44pm

    Sounds like the creature described in the book of Job.

    Report Post »  
  • qpwillie
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:43pm

    Wow! You don’t see many of those around anymore.

    Report Post » qpwillie  
  • Phyliss
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:35pm

    Jimmy Hoffa?

    Report Post » Phyliss  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:43pm

      too far south!

      Report Post » Teabunny  
    • Thevoice
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:49pm

      The screw on the lens …Next ..Pile of rock..NEXT…Move along..Who else is out in the waiting room today …Tell the guy with the next fat cat or dog it will be tomorrow.

      Report Post » Thevoice  
  • ProgressiveDeist267
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:27pm

    To be honest this sounds very interesting. A piece to the puzzle of our history. Paints a picture how the past looked like.

    Report Post »  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:23pm

    What’s the matter, eggheads? You never saw a fossilized dinosaur turd before?

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • Thisstinks
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 12:40am

      You may be on to something. Snakes and lizards shed their skins as they grow could this be fossilized skin?

      Take care,

      Stinks

      Report Post »  
    • uspsureshot
      Posted on April 30, 2012 at 3:51pm

      Dragon Scales I know it!

      Report Post »  
  • mgannome
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:21pm

    I bet they will determine that it is “a bunch of rocks or a concrete blob.”

    Report Post »  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:19pm

    SHAME ON YOU BLAZE! plagiarizer!
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2018065887_apusmysteryfossil.html

    Report Post » Teabunny  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:38pm

      verbatim

      Report Post » Teabunny  
    • Gwynedd_foke
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:43pm

      It’s an AP story…The Blaze credited it!

      Report Post »  
    • A. James
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:45pm

      You’re an idiot! That’s an AP story….go troll somewhere else, moron.

      Report Post » A. James  
    • ZaphodsPlanet
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:53pm

      Dude….. look it’s called the AP…. or Associated Press. The source of all commie news. That‘s why it’s verbatim. It’s a “new service”. The commies at the AP are why you can open pretty much any newspaper across America and get the same CRAP. You shouldn‘t be upset about The Blaze plagiarizing anything because they aren’t. But you should be upset that they relay the same vomit everyone else does from the AP. Pull your head out.

      Report Post » ZaphodsPlanet  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:01pm

      true. that (AP) does credit the source. legally…wow, is that all it takes to be a journalist? Is that what y’all mean by the bus? And y’all get paid to cut and paste??? huh. what a job!

      Report Post » Teabunny  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 7:18pm

      I Am. I thought Glenn had higher standards. Wow. He rails on the media, he starts his own, because the media is not doing its job…then falls in with the rest. Makes you wonder… what to believe! I have just begun to doubt his truthfulness. SAY, Mitt romney was slammed for dishonesty….Isn’t Glenn a mormon… in good standing?

      Report Post » Teabunny  
  • FN-FEDUP
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:16pm

    I don‘t know but i’m sure Obama if he had a son it would look just like it

    Report Post » FN-FEDUP  
  • MammalOne
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:15pm

    Interesting……………………………………

    Report Post » MammalOne  
  • hatchetjob
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:11pm

    Encinom’s relatives??

    Report Post » hatchetjob  
  • lukerw
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:09pm

    Interesting…

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:07pm

    Headline is wrong! It was found in Kentucky…it is being viewed in ohio! proof read!

    Report Post » Teabunny  
    • Teabunny
      Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:12pm

      easy mistake. misleading things like scientist from Ohio, Cincinnati region covered by water, but it was found off 17 in Kentucky. sorry.

      Report Post » Teabunny  
    • maccow
      Posted on April 26, 2012 at 2:38am

      Should I point out what an obvious Glass House you are living in.

      Report Post » maccow  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on April 25, 2012 at 6:05pm

    Interesting………..

    Report Post » Stoic one  

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