#sharkfossil

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Tim Cammett, a Penn Yan native and former Major League Baseball player who is researching the history of baseball in Yates County, came across the above item in the midst of his search. He wanted to know if we had more in our research collection regarding this shark fossil found in a field in Benton toward the close of the 19th century. I didn’t find much else, but what I did find provided a good chuckle. 

The item Tim found comes from the February 3, 1886 edition of the Dundee Record, and it reports that a shark fossil, “a portion of a defensive fin spine,” was found in a field in Benton. It measured almost 2 and a half inches long, with the entire spine likely reaching 9 inches in length. It was determined the spine belonged to a type of extinct shark; though typically found in Ohio, it was believed this was first time the shark was found in New York State. The article goes on to explain what the fin spine looked like and how it worked. It also notes the shark, much like its modern relatives, was comprised mostly of cartilage – with the spine being the only real bone in the shark’s body – so it is rare to find fossils of other parts of these sharks. 

I found a similar report in the December 4, 1885 edition of the Penn Yan Chronicle that also references a shark fossil found in Benton. I’m wondering whether the reports describe the same shark fossil discovery or two different instances. The way the timing is laid out, it would suggest these were two different discoveries. The Chronicle article notes the discovery was detailed in the newspaper “a few weeks since,” so perhaps it took place in October or November 1885. The Record article notes the discovery happened “a few days ago,” maybe around late January 1886. However, the Record article credits the Penn Yan Chronicle at the end of its report, so it is possible the articles reference the same discovery and the Record borrowed the Chronicle’s report much later after the fact. 

Whichever the case, the Chronicle – unlike the Record – is light on the details of the discovery and heavy on the jabs toward Ontario County, which is where the humor comes in. Yates County was established in 1823 and formed from Ontario County; it has been said our smaller county developed an inferiority complex toward its bigger brother. Apparently, there were some in Ontario County ridiculing the shark fossil discovery in Benton, and the newspaper took the chance to set the facts straight, so to speak. 

“We are ready to admit that as far as sharks go Ontario county is far ahead of Yates. This Machaer Acanthus Major is the only shark we ever heard of here,” the report states. “But Ontario is just loaded down with sharks, political sharks, religious sharks, financial sharks and sharks of every degree.”