Downpour saved fossil lodged in drainage ditch

Turtle fossil readied for study in Columbia museum

SUMMERVILLE — Thirty million years of history almost went down the drain — literally — as part of a stormwater project.

The town's stormwater department planned to even out a drainage ditch behind Brandymill subdivision off Trolley Road in late May, right around the time that avid fossil hunter Paul Bailey made one of the most significant finds in South Carolina natural history.

But the heavens opened up and the rain poured down, forcing maintenance crews to abandon their task just in time. That's when Bailey dug up a 30-million-year-old turtle fossil.

"It's good luck on their part that we held off on maintenance on the bottom and they were able to find (the fossil) before we got there," said Larry Soltesz, director of the Summerville stormwater department. "We probably never would have known that we had hit it."

Tuesday, volunteers joined paleontologists from the State Museum in Columbia to help unearth the huge leatherback fossil, about the size of a toy wagon. They started digging June 14, but had to wait for the water level in the drainage ditch to recede before continuing.

They hope to load the specimen onto a truck this morning, after a protective layer of plaster has dried.

The U.S. Geological Survey dated the fossil back to the Oligocene epoch, when sea levels were higher and the beach was farther north.

Scientists think the fossil is part of the now-extinct Psephophorus s.p. turtle genus, a cousin of today's leatherback turtle.

"This looks like a bite radius, look at this!" said Jim Knight, chief curator of natural history at the museum. Knight discovered a shark bite on the shell when digging Tuesday, but cautioned that it would take careful study to determine if the creature died from an attack or was subject to nibbling after death.

Knowledge of the genus is fragmented, because whole fossils are extremely rare, which makes this such an amazing find, Knight said. Scientists plan to study the specimen for at least two years before putting it on display at the State Museum in Columbia.

Reach Lucia Walinchus at 937-5921 or at lwalinchus@post andcourier.com.