The Devonian in Iowa, US
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Paleontology and geology
Warm, shallow seas covered Iowa during Devonian time. These waters were home to numerous marine invertebrates including abundant brachiopods, trilobites, rugose and tabulate corals, and echinoderms, and, for the first time, a variety of fish. Reefs flourished in the state; stromatoporoids (extinct organisms related to sponges) formed variously shaped colonies that resembled layered mats, branches, and rounded masses. Large colonial and solitary corals joined these sponges to form extensive reefs, some of which can be traced for over 100 miles in eastern Iowa. Many of these fossils can be seen at Devonian Fossil Gorge, several miles upstream from Iowa City along the Iowa River.
Links to more on the Devonian in Iowa
Education and Exhibits | Research and Collections | Resources
Education and ExhibitsResearch and CollectionsVirtual Exhibits (showing 1 of 1 listings)
Iowa Geological Survey: An interesting description of the exposure of a Devonian sea floor following a major flood in 1993. Part of the website of the Iowa Geological Survey.
Physical Exhibits (showing 1 of 1 listings)
Fossil and Prairie Center: This nature center in Rockford, with native prairie, ponds and wetlands, also has exposures of Devonian rocks containing the fossils of marine invertebrates. Fossil collecting for private use is free to the public.
ResourcesResearchers (showing 2 of 2 listings)
University of Iowa Paleontology Repository: The UI Paleontology Repository is home to over a million fossils from all over the world and from all time periods, and is used for research and teaching. We also provide education services, hands-on tours around the collections and geology exhibits for schools and community groups, and fossil identification and collection care services.
Dr. Thomas W. Kammer: Specialty: Evolutionary paleoecology of Paleozoic crinoids, plus lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy of marine Mississippian rocks in the east-central United States. Field areas include West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa.
Databases (showing 1 of 1 listings)
Fossils in My Back Yard: Explore a geologic map of Iowa, county by county, to see lists and photos of fossils in the collections of the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository.
