Fossilized shark teeth are found along the tidewater region of Virginia.
The state of Virginia is home to rich variety of fossils, some of which date back to the Early Cambrian, a time before animals left the oceans. Virginia's fossils indicate drastic changes in the environment over millions of years. Sea levels fluctuated dramatically and entirely submerged the state underwater for long periods. Some of the earliest fossils were species that existed before the Shenandoah Mountains formed.
Paleozoic Era
During the early Paleozoic era, more than 500 million years ago, the land that is now Virginia lay submerged under a shallow sea. Common fossils from this era are stromatolites, dome-shaped mounds created by cyanobacteria. Sediment covered these structures, eventually fossilizing them and leaving crucial evidence of some of the earliest life forms on the planet. Fossils of snails, brachipods, trilobites and other marine animals from the Middle Cambrian are rare in Virginia.
During the Carboniferous period, swamps and dense forests covered portions of Virginia and the accumulated organic matter from these ecosystems formed coal seams. According to the College of William and Mary, these coal seams contain fossilized ferns, horsetails and lycophytes, an early tree.
Mesozoic Era
The Mesozoic was the era of dinosaurs. Virginia fossils from this time include dinosaur footprints in the Piedmont province. This province, which runs down the middle of the state, was coastland during the Mesozoic and now contains fossils of insects and freshwater fish. East of the Piedmont province, where a shallow sea once existed, fossilized oysters and belemnites occur in marine rocks.
Cenozoic Era
Turbulent sea levels during the Cenozoic era resulted in marine fossils along the tidewater region of Virginia. According to the College of William and Mary, marine rocks in this area contain fossils of sand dollars, clams and other marine life. Less common fossils include shark teeth as well as fish and whale bones. Additionally, accumulated sediment from the Cenozoic era fossilized species of mammoth and mastodon. However, fossils of these land animals are rare.
State Fossil
Virginia's state fossil is the Chesapecten jeffersonius, a 4.5 million-year-old species of scallop. This species is now extinct, but in 1687, Thomas Jefferson first documented these fossils. Frequent findings of C. jeffersonius occur in Southeast Virginia along stream beds and riverbanks. This fossil's common name is Jefferson's Chesapeake Scallop.
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