Kentucky miner finds shark fossil

— 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, 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 onceswam 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 the university’s Mines and Minerals building.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 04/10/2011

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