The location of the state of Maine Paleontology in Maine refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. The fossil record of Maine is very sparse. Maine came into existence during the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

as other ancient land masses accreted onto North America. At the time Maine was covered by a

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

inhabited by a menagerie of invertebrates which included graptolites. During the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

, geologic uplift raised Maine above sea level. Early

land plants The embryophytes () are a clade of plants, also known as Embryophyta (Plantae ''sensu strictissimo'') () or land plants. They are the most familiar group of photoautotrophs that make up the vegetation on Earth's dry lands and wetlands. Embryophy ...

flourished in the terrestrial environments. There is a gap in the local rock record spanning the remainder of the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

, the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

, and the Tertiary period of the Cenozoic era. During the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, Maine was varyingly covered by

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

or seawater. The

Pertica plant, '' Pertica quadrifaria'', is the Maine state fossil.

Prehistory

Maine came into existence during the

as other ancient land masses accreted onto North America. At the time, however, Maine was covered by a

and located in the southern hemisphere. Large numbers of invertebrates living at a variety of depths inhabited this sea.

graptolites left fossils behind at a location 100 miles north of Lake Memphremagog but the quality of these remains is usually so low that specimens worthy of collection are uncommon according to author Marian Murray. Remains left behind by

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

marine life were preserved in the areas of Maine that border what is now

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, Canada. The fossils are preserved sedimentary deposits within a stratigraphic interval that alternates between the fossil-bearing beds and beds laid down by volcanic activity that are made of

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

and

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

. In the

, mountain building began elevating regions of Maine. By this time the state included terrestrial habitats. Deposits from these environments reveal a contemporary

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, although these plant fossils are generally fragmentary. By the end of the Devonian, all of Maine was dry land. For the rest of the

, local sediments were being eroded rather than deposited, so no fossils are known from this interval. This erosive interval continued throughout the entire

era. As such, no

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

fossils have ever been discovered in Maine. Erosion continued from the start of the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

until the

. During the Ice Age, Maine was most thoroughly covered in

about 20,000 years ago. Their incredible weight pushed down the land relative to sea level. Consequently, seawater began to flood the state as the glaciers retreated. As the state returned to its original elevation relative to sea level it dried out and became terrestrial once again. Local ecosystems gradually became more

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

as temperatures warmed.

Paleontologists from Maine

* Benjamin Franklin Mudge was born in Orrington on August 11, 1817. * David P. Penhallow was born in Kittery Point on 25 May, 1854. * Jack Sepkoski was born in Presque Isle on July 26,

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Natural history museums

*George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History, Bar Harbor *L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley *

Maine State Museum The Maine State Museum is the official Maine government's museum and is located at 230 State Street, adjacent to the Maine State House, in Augusta, Maine, Augusta. Its collections focus on the state's pre-history, history, and natural science. ...

, Augusta * Northern Maine Museum of Science, Presque Isle *The Nylander Museum, Caribou * Wilson Museum, Castine

Footnotes

References

* Churchill-Dickson, Lisa, Dale Springer, Judy Scotchmoor. September 17, 2010.
Maine, US

The Paleontology Portal
Accessed September 21, 2012. * * Weishampel, D.B. & L. Young. 1996. Dinosaurs of the East Coast. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

External links

Geologic units in Maine

{{Paleontology in the United States