World’s first known fossil of grasshopper eggs discovered in Eastern Oregon

Think Out Loud

Earlier this month, scientists described what they believe to be the world’s first fossil of prehistoric grasshopper eggs. The silver dollar-sized fossil containing more than 50 grasshopper eggs was first found in 2012 at the Sheep Rock Unit at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Eastern Oregon. For several years, the fossil was mistakenly thought to be of ant eggs until Nick Famoso, a paleontologist hired at the monument in 2016, had doubts about their origin. The specimen was sent to the University of Oregon where CT scans helped reveal tell-tale clues about its structure that confirmed it was a grasshopper that laid them nearly 30 million years ago in a forested, temperate landscape very different from its place of discovery today. Famoso is the paleontology program manager and curator at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. He joins us to talk about the significance of this fossil find and the name he helped give it to pay tribute to the first superintendent of the John Day national monument.