This gap is most likely the result of episodes of mountain-building and erosion which removed the rocks formed during this time period. Most recently, continental glaciers scoured the landscape, removing more sediment and rock. While this erosion was helpful in exposing the older, Paleozoic rocks, it completely removed all of the Mesozoic material and a large portion of the Cenozoic record. So, while it is quite likely that dinosaurs inhabited the area that became Maine, their remains will probably never be found here.
Blue boxes indicate time periods for which Maine has a fossil record.
Fossils from the Holocene and Pleistocene are preserved in sediments . Fossils from the Cambrian through Devonian Periods are preserved in bedrock . Return to the Maine Geological Survey home page.