Exchange
February 16, 2012
165-Million-Year-Old Fossil Makes its Way to Millersville
Millersville University received a pleasant surprise recently when a prehistoric fossil was
donated to the biology department on behalf of the Salvation Army in Carlisle, Pa. The store
received an anonymous donation of a prehistoric
predatory fish fossil and decided it would be of better
use in the academic world than to be kept in the store.
“Once we started to research it and delve further into
the history of the fossil, it made sense to us to donate
it. As an organization that is so generously supported
by the community, for us to be able to give back is
great,” said Jeanne Troy, development director at the
Salvation Army in Carlisle.
After being examined by the State Museum of Pennsylvania and trained ichthyologist Dr.
Dominique Dagit, associate professor of biology at Millersville, it was confirmed that the fossil
is approximately 165 million years old.
The fossil, originating from the Santana Fish Formation in Brazil, is split right down the middle
to show the details of the fossilized stone. Dagit was pleased to learn about the donation and said
the value to science makes this donation priceless.
“The fossil itself is not particularly rare. Many like it do exist; however, fossils themselves are
rare because so few organisms from the past die and are preserved in such a way that we can
later find them as fossils,” said Dagit.
It will be used as a learning tool in Dagit‟s ichthyology course and also in her zoology course
when they study vertebrate animals. “Students can appreciate that the earth has a long history of
animal life – millions of years ago strange creatures lived on this planet. Life on the planet now
is only the evolved descendants of things that existed millions of years ago,” explained Dagit.
The fossil has not yet arrived at Millersville, but it will be displayed for others to see once an
appropriate case is found to hold the 165-million-year-old piece.
Photo Courtesy: Jason Malmont/The Sentinel.
Ganser Library Updates
The renovations to Ganser Library are underway and right on schedule, according to Erin
Dorney, outreach librarian. “We have a great team of contractors working really well with each
other to open again for business in the fall of 2013.”
The construction process of the library building is presently in the “demolition” phase. This
phase consists of the breaking down of the internal walls, taking out the carpet, as well as
removing the heating and cooling system. During the demolitions contractors found soda bottles
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