The Needmore Formation was originally described by Willard and Cleaves in 1939 as a dark- to medium-gray limy shale, based on exposures in southern Fulton County, Pennsylvania.
[2] DeWitt and Colton (1964) described the Needmore as "soft calcareous medium dark-brownish-gray and greenish-gray shale and mudrock...and soft, slightly calcareous very fissile brownish-black shale" that is not resistant to weathering.
[3] DeWitt and Colton (1964) identified brachiopods (Coelospira acutiplicata, Eodevonaria arcuata), trilobites (Viaphacops cristata), and ostracods (Favulella favulosa) in the Needmore.
[3] Type locality is between Needmore and Warfordsburg in southern Fulton County, Pennsylvania.
Relative age dating places the Needmore in the middle Devonian.