Guests are always interested in whether or not there are fossils found inside the salt and silt layers underground. The answer is no. At the time that the salt beds were being formed, the Permian Sea water was hot and very salty so it is doubtful that any animal life could survive. As the salt hardened it was compacted so tightly, and with so much pressure from above, that any plant or animal matter would have been crushed. Scientists have discovered salt loving bacteria or Halophiles, that can live in extreme salt environments. A bacterium, found in ancient salt, was successfully revived in 1999, thus becoming the oldest living organism ever found. An exhibit at KUSM shows how scientists made this discovery.