Animal fossil found near Chadron’s water tower

CHADRON, Dec. 2025 – An animal fossil found in the rocks near the city’s water tower at the south end of Chadron State College’s campus, by CSC’s Geology professor M’bark Baddouh and his colleague, Professor Emeritus Mike Leite.

Baddouh and Leite were on a routine survey of the area, studying the rocks, tectonic faults and geological make of the land when Baddouh came across the fossil. He identified the fossil as an animal tooth, though he is yet to identify the exact animal but believes it belonged to a “pig-like animal”. He and Leite are working on identifying the animal the tooth could have come from.

“It’s maybe an enamel tooth, and it could be small bighorn sheep or something closer,” Baddouh said.

The rocks near the water tower, where the fossil was found, are of the Arikaree Group. Leite notes that the rocks tend to not have many fossils, so new things are always helpful. The study of these rocks has gone on for years now and its complex history is starting to be understood.

Leite explains that the rocks on campus have been studied by paleontologists and geologists for over 100 years, leading to several fossil discoveries during that time. Some of these researchers have included the “father of Nebraska paleontology” E.H. Barbour, Harold Cook, Morris Skinner, Eleanor Barbour Cook, founder CSC’s geology program. E.Cook also donated all her findings and samples to a museum in the Math and Science building, which is now named after her.

Several CSC students have also made important discoveries like alum Steve Welch who discovered the lower jaws of a gray wolf carbon dating back to the 1200s, and Ed Welsh who found several fossils of oreodonts, horses and rhinoceroses.  

These discoveries help push CSC’s Geology department forward and create more opportunities for student to gain field experience. This opens up more avenues for Geologists to keep doing what they do best, which is study the land they are on. They make discoveries, study it, identify it, and “put it in the context of evolution”. It is process that leads to learning more about the history and geological make of Chadron.

“If we add more, it would be great to fill out a story. So, this is a continuous study, continuous work. It’s not one and done, but we just keep going,” said Baddouh.

“Collecting fossils is time consuming, dirty, and strenuous work. But over time the results accumulate and let us fill in the blanks about what this place was like long before there were humans to see it,” said Leite.

The fossil and rock findings are entered into a paleo database once they have been identified. A case is then created for it and finally it’s put back in a collection, then displayed at the Eleanor Barbour Cook Museum. The museum is open to the public and CSC students.