Even the smallest of brains can be found with the help of science.

A fossil the size of a  walnut that’s believed to be the oldest in the world, 300-million-years-old to be exact,  has been loaned by the Kansas Museum of Natural History to a group in France. This unusual fish is similar to that of a ratfish.

Larry Martin, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Kansas Museum of Natural History, said this fossil actually was discovered during the 1930s-1940s by Arthur Bridewell.

He found this fossil and others around between Baldwin City and Lawrence.

While it’s referred to as a brain, Martin said the fossil actually is a mold of soft tissues that were around the brain.

It was found in a nodule, a rock in the shape of a ball made out of deposits, that formed around the fossil.

Paleontologists used to have to break open a nodule to find out what was inside, but now, thanks to high-quality CT scans, one can look inside the without breaking it.

The fossil still is in France, but will be returned once scientists are done with it. 

“We want them to get as much out of (the fossil) as we can,” Martin said.

Professor of Biology Calvin Cink said it’s exciting to find this fossil with two unusual features.

First of all, it wasn’t crushed flat by the pressure of sediment and rock layers. 

He said many do get flattened and with it 3-D qualities are destroyed.

The second has to do with chemistry. This brain’s composition is of calcium phosphate, making it different from the rest of the skull, which was mineralized by calcium carbonate.

This allowed the equipment to pick out distinct regions of the brain.

Freshman Andrew Woodworth said it’s neat something significant was found so close to Baldwin City.

However, he thinks most people, like himself, become bored with fossils after learning so much about dinosaurs. 

Nonetheless, Woodworth said it’s important to preserve fossils, such as this fish brain.

“You never know what you can learn from these things. It might be absolutely nothing, but there’s always the chance we will learn something,” he said.

Cink said any discovery is important.

“It’s obvious that fossils like this one need to be preserved so that as we develop new technologies, new ways of analyzing those fossils can be applied to tell us new things about how those ancient organisms lived,” Cink said.

But it’s not just scientists who can discover these fossils.

Martin said anyone who takes the time to study can make contributions like Bridewell did, even though he wasn’t a scientist.

“I encourage people to look in their backyards and see what they find,” Martin said.