Let the State of New York tip its heraldic lid
And add to its symbols the Eurypterid
A crablike fossil, long extinct without bounty
Found in Herikimer, Onondaga, and Erie County.
Dr. Donald Fisher, our state paleontog
Lobbyist for beasts from the Silurian bog
Brings this scorpion-crab ancestor to light
Along with mastodon and trilobite
Having recently acquired a state beverage, milk
Why not toast this old native of Euryptidian ilk?
As old as the hills, as steady, as docile:
All hail the idea of a New York state fossil.

-- New York Times, approx. 1984

Notes

If you have the exact reference for this poem (including its author), please e-mail me at rossiter@itc.nl

Links

• Here's a nice general description, with pictures and links, from the Museum of Paleontology, University of California (of all places).
• Here are some nice pictures of specimens for sale, from The Nature Source of Queensbury, NY.

This page is http://home.twcny.rr.com/nrw/history/eurypt.html
Last updated 2008_099

Back