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In this episode of the Mississippi Outdoors Podcast, host Matt Wyatt sits down with James Starnes, research geologist for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, to uncover the deep prehistoric story hidden beneath our state.
James explains how Mississippi was once covered by tropical seas filled with massive sea creatures, and how today’s hills, creeks, and highways reveal an ancient world of mosasaurs, mammoths, and even whales. From 70-million-year-old oyster shells to a newly discovered mammoth tusk in Madison County, he shows how Mississippi’s geology tells the story of the Earth itself.
The conversation covers:
• The work of the Mississippi Geological Survey and its history since 1850
• Fossils from Starkville’s “sea dragon” mosasaur and Mississippi’s official fossil whale
• Why the northeast corner of Mississippi holds the state’s oldest rocks
• How public fossil sites like the Franks Town site let kids find real fossils
• New discoveries like mammoth teeth on the Gulf Coast
• The science behind paleoclimate and how fossils preserve evidence of ancient environments
• The Fossil Road Show and how everyday Mississippians help discover the past
• It’s an eye-opening look at the ancient world beneath our feet — and why Mississippi may be one of the best fossil-hunting states in the country.
Mississippi Outdoors