JACKSON, AL – A family fishing trip on the Alabama River turned into a remarkable discovery when the Colemans stumbled upon a fossilized leatherback sea turtle shell, a find so rare it defied the odds.
The Coleman family, avid outdoor enthusiasts, often spend their time exploring the riverbanks for fossils, a tradition passed down from Adam Coleman’s father. During a 2021 outing near Jackson, 13-year-old Taylor Coleman spotted something unusual. Initially mistaking it for a rock, Taylor and his father quickly realized they had discovered something extraordinary.
After sitting on the discovery for about a year, the Colemans reached out to Dr. Andrew Gentry from the Gulf State Park Learning Campus to identify their find. Dr. Gentry confirmed the rarity of the intact fossil, describing it as a one-in-a-million occurrence.
To excavate the fossil, Dr. Gentry assembled a team, with the Colemans eagerly assisting. The excavation involved carefully drilling and hammering to free the shell, which weighed around one ton. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab lent a boat to transport the massive fossil.
Once secured, Dr. Gentry contacted paleontologists across the U.S. to determine the fossil’s age. The shell was estimated to be 32 million years old and belonged to a previously undiscovered species and genus of leatherback sea turtles. The Porch Creek tribe, whose ancestral lands included the discovery site, named the species in their native Muskogee language.
The Colemans are now eager for their next big fossil adventure, inspired by their once-in-a-lifetime find. Their passion for exploration and discovery continues to drive them back to the riverbanks, hoping lightning might strike twice.