Andy Moore was hurrying to make the perfect throw while aiming right into a weedy region near a rocky bluff on the Missouri River. He had just attached a swim jig to his line.
Andy Moore found a 90 million-year-old fossil of a Xiphactinus vertebrae. The Xiphactinus was a bony fish that swam in the shallow ocean waters that once covered Nebraska.
His line snagged on a big boulder upstream after missing the bushes.
The Omaha guy pulled, turned, and twisted to free his lure. Even after making several attempts to cut his line, he was unable to resume his search for the tournament's winning bass. He was instead compelled to paddle his kayak to what he initially believed to be nothing more than a fragment of the cliff that had fallen.
When Moore arrived, he discovered that he had caught more than just a rock; he had caught something even better than the largemouth bass he had been looking for all morning.
Andy Moore
Moore, 52, who has been fishing since he was 2 years old, has just landed the largest catch of his life: a fossilized Xiphactinus vertebra from 90 million years ago. Xiphactinus was a bony fish that lived at the time of the dinosaurs and swam in the shallow ocean waters that covered Nebraska.
"This is better than any of my accomplishments, or truly anything in life. It's strange," stated Moore. It is simply insane. the discovery that a fish caught today by a fisherman 90 million years ago is prehistoric in origin.
Moore took a brief photo of the fossil for a Facebook post and left it there since he initially believed it to be a catfish skeleton or another recent fossil. Soon after, friends started leaving comments on his post to let him know that he had discovered something far larger than he had first imagined.
Moore began investigating the region around Lewis and Clark Lake, where he found the fossil, and learned that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of the river. A retired science teacher with authorization to excavate in the area was recommended to him by Corps personnel.
Andy Moore found a 90 million-year-old fossil of a Xiphactinus vertebrae. The Xiphactinus was a bony fish that swam in the shallow ocean waters that once covered Nebraska.
The two returned to the location with the aid of a GPS pin on the picture.
The fossil will be on display and available for future research at the Lewis and Clark Lake Visitor Center.
According to Shane Tucker, the condition of Nebraska's highway paleontologist, timing had a significant role in both the fossil's recovery and condition of preservation.
The river may have fluctuated and buried the fossil under water if it had been discovered any later or earlier in the day, but it stuck out exactly as it was. Furthermore, if Moore hadn't discovered it that day, the old vertebrae might have been completely washed away by the river.
Tucker claimed that everything depended solely on luck and chance.
"It's a good thing he found it when he did, reported it, and it's going somewhere where it's going to be taken care of and used for an exhibit," he added. "Ice would have been freezing on the river's edge if it had been winter. The individual vertebrae would have most certainly sustained some damage as a result. Or if there was a flood, it would be hidden by sand and no one would know about it.
According to Tucker, Nebraska has produced other such fossil discoveries of ancient aquatic creatures, including a gigantic extinct lizard called a Mosasaurus. In terms of species type, the Xiphactinus fossil wasn't particularly uncommon, but it was nevertheless a once-in-a-lifetime find.
Shane Tucker, highway paleontologist for the State of Nebraska, said that if the fossil had been found any later or earlier in the day, the Missouri River may have fluctuated and hidden the fossil under its rough waters, but it stuck out perfectly.
The majority of important discoveries are typically made by accident, according to Tucker. "For him to catch his hook on a rock and it just so happened to have a fish in it, that's really unique and probably the only time that'll probably ever happen."
Moore said he won't start fossil hunting, but he would always keep a look out for another significant discovery.
Although it is different, I don't believe it will prevent me from continuing to do what I love, which is fishing.
