In 1956 the first evidence of former marine life in the Canowindra district was uncovered. Road workers disturbed the skeletal remains of fish that had died about 360 million years ago. Further exploration of the site in early 1993 indicate that the Fish Bed is one of the richest fossil fish sites discovered anywhere in the world.
The fossils are in layers on the underside of massive slabs of rock that can be upturned by careful use of excavators.
A small lake or pool that was inhabited by thousands of varied fish dried up completely in a very brief period of drought, killing everything within its confines.
Included among the fossils are examples of the Canowindra Grossi, an air-breathing, fleshy, finned fish of the crossopterygian group which are known to have evolved into the first four-footed land animals - the amphibians. Later development lead to reptiles, birds and mammals.
Detailed information regarding the fossil site can be obtained from the Canowindra Museum, which is expanding the scope of its exhibits to feature the 'Age of Fishes'.