<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582914122016.jpeg" alt=" Fossils taken from rocks west of Wichita. Stephan Bisaha / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Fossils taken from rocks west of Wichita. Stephan Bisaha / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/there-are-millions-fossils-kansas-heres-how-you-can-find-one">Kansas News Service</a>LAWRENCE — A couple hundred million years 
ago, an ocean covering Kansas teemed with prehistoric life. Yet for 
millennia, Kansas has been a dry, sometimes even dusty, place.The
 ocean is long gone, but traces of that long-ago aquatic life lie right 
below your feet captured for the ages in fossil form. Now, 
paleontologists from the University of Kansas have an app that they hope
 will help motivate people to go out and find it.The Digital 
Atlas of Ancient Life app was created by a group of paleontologists and 
researchers led by KU ecology and evolutionary biology professor Bruce 
Lieberman.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582914172832.jpeg" alt=" KU professor Bruce Lieberman hunts for fossil specimens in a drawer. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> KU professor Bruce Lieberman hunts for fossil specimens in a drawer. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>“One of the goals of our project was to try and make it easier for 
citizens who might like fossils or maybe could like fossils to maybe go 
out into the field identify what they found and learn more about the 
natural world around them,” he said.The <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.aleros.digitalatlasancientlife&amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank">app</a> boasts an extensive database with detailed pictures of fossils common to Kansas.KU owns<a href="https://biodiversity.ku.edu/" target="_blank"> thousands of fossil specimens, especially trilobites, cephalopods and ancient clams</a>. The app is one way to share all of that information to smartphones around the world.If it motivates people to go out and find some of their own, Lieberman said, all the better.“We
 really are blessed in the state of Kansas to have lots of fossil 
resources that can very easily be found by the general public,” he said.Lieberman offered a few tips for the novice fossil hunter.<h2>Where to find them</h2>Fossils
 from various geologic time periods can be found throughout Kansas. But 
Lieberman recommends beginners start their searches in the eastern part 
of the state. It’s home to rocks from the Pennsylvanian era — about 260 
million years ago.Fossils exist almost anywhere in Kansas where rock peeks out of the soil. Start with a place where a road cuts through a hill.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582914197548.jpeg" alt=" A fossil that's 250 million years old is encased in rock in a road cut near U.S. 400, a mile west of Augusta. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> A fossil that's 250 million years old is encased in rock in a road cut near U.S. 400, a mile west of Augusta. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>How to look</h2>First, open your eyes.“Start
 out looking around near the rocks to see if you find any fossils lying 
about,” Lieberman said, “Because they’ll just naturally weather out of 
the cliff.”Once you’ve done that, begin working your way up. Mike Everhart of&nbsp;<a href="http://oceansofkansas.com/" target="_blank">Oceans of Kansas Paleontology</a>&nbsp;described the method while out looking for fossils in a road cut east of Wichita on U.S. 400.“In
 a hillside like this, where the rocks are eroding out and tumbling 
down,” he said, “one of the things you do is keep working your way up 
there when you find the actual layer where the rocks are coming out.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582914229049.jpeg" alt=" Paleontologist Mike Everhart scans the cliff face for fossils. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Paleontologist Mike Everhart scans the cliff face for fossils. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>People also need to be sure they have permission to look for fossils 
before venturing on to private land. In Kansas, fossils found on private
 property belong to the landowner.<h2>Do I need tools?</h2>No.While
 some more experienced fossil hunters bring a rock hammer or a chisel, 
they aren’t necessary. Many fossils can be found in chunks of rock 
nature has already broken away.<h2>How to identify fossils</h2>That’s where the app comes in. It’s packed with detailed pictures of many of the fossils that can be found in eastern Kansas.Lieberman
 said if you’re looking for fossils in eastern Kansas, you’ll want to 
select the Pennsylvanian time period on the app for the best chance to 
identify what you’ve found. If you’re farther west, you’re more likely 
to find a fossil from the Cretaceous period.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582914264869.jpeg" alt=" A fossil peeks out of a rock face in a road cut on U.S. 400 about a mile west of Augusta. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> A fossil peeks out of a rock face in a road cut on U.S. 400 about a mile west of Augusta. Credit Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>Once you’ve selected a time period, compare what you’ve found to one 
of the pictures on the screen. And after you’ve selected the species you
 think it is, there’s a map to show you where it’s been found in the 
past.Lieberman said there are millions of fossils in Kansas. All you have to do is find some exposed rocks and look.“It’s really what catches your eye and you find the most exciting,” he said. “There’s no right or wrong way to collect fossils.”Brian
 Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for 
KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on 
Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en">@briangrimmett</a>&nbsp;or
 email him at grimmett@kmuw.org. The Kansas News Service is a
 collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public
 Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their 
connection to public policy.

There are millions of fossils in Kan. — here's how to find them