“The persistence of the ancient fishes in North America is doubtless due to the fact that certain parts of this continent are the oldest known parts of the earth’s surface... Hence, though exposed to extreme alterations of climate – as in the Tertiary and Glacial periods – parts of our continent have apparently always remained asylums where representatives of its ancient tribes of fishes have found a safe retreat, and where the chain of descent has been unbroken from remote geological ages.”
John Strong Newberry, 1873
Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol I – Part II
Paleontology, Section II: Descriptions of Fossil Fishes