Utah Calling

Posted: May 20, 2013 by Lisa Herzog in Uncategorized
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Only a few short weeks until the 2013 Utah field season for the Paleontology Research Lab.  This year, we are taking a group of students from North Carolina State University on a field course in vertebrate paleontology field methods.  It is always exciting to get back out to a field site and start excavating some of the exciting surface finds from the previous year.  We are hoping to excavate the remainder of a turtle that was partially discovered broken up on the surface last year, as well as some theropod material from a nearby but separate locality.

photo by Mike Eklund of Natural History Studios

photo by Mike Eklund of Natural History Studios

This year, we hope to have better access to cell tower signals for more opportunities to connect with people back home, at the museum and on the blog.  We will be attempting to keep an updated blog while in the field so everyone can have a better idea of what exciting things are being found.

Cretaceous Cold Case #2, Part 1: It’s a Trap?

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Cretaceous Cold Case #2, Part 1: It’s a Trap?

READ IT HERE: Cretaceous Cold Case #2, Part 1: It’s a Trap?

taken from the blog:

This is part one of the second post in a series called “Cretaceous Cold Cases” in which the science of taphonomy, or prehistoric forensics, is explained  using fascinating cases from the files of Terry “Bucky” Gates, a research scientist with a joint appointment at NC State and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Part 2 can be found here.

Link  —  Posted: May 13, 2013 by Lindsay E Zanno in Prehistoric Forensics, Research Blog
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Follow Bucky’s new blog series: Cretaceous Cold Case

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Follow Bucky’s new blog series: Cretaceous Cold Case

Cretaceous Cold Cases #1: A Case With Legs

taken from the blog:

“This is the first post in a series called “Cretaceous Cold Cases” in which the science of taphonomy, or prehistoric forensics, is explained and exemplified by fascinating cases from the files of Terry “Bucky” Gates, a research scientist with a joint appointment at NC State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.”

Link  —  Posted: May 8, 2013 by Lindsay E Zanno in Prehistoric Forensics, Research Blog

Gigantic T. rex! at Fossil Preparation and Collections Symposium

Posted: May 3, 2013 by Lisa Herzog in Notes from the Paleo Prep Lab, Uncategorized
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Me with Matt Brown (Chief Preparator, UT Austin) and Mike Eklund (Vehement Pioneer of Methods & Materials in Paleontology) at the base of the world’s largest T. rex in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

FPCS2013The 6th annual FPCS in Drumheller Canada was a wonderful trip to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and Dinosaur Provincial Park.  Had a chance to meet and socialize with colleagues from many institutions.  This conference has doubled in size in the six years since the first meeting in 2008 at Petrified Forest National Park.

The mornings were filled with talks on how collections storage and preparation techniques have changed over the history of paleontology.  As collections grow and age proper care is required to maintain what has already been collected, as well as how to care for newly acquired specimens.  In the afternoons we were able to tour the museum, collections, laboratories and offices as well as participate in hands on workshops relating to methods on preparation and collections.  This is the best part for me.  I love to see how other institutions operate, talk to others about problems  and often get great tips on how to improve methods in the care of specimens in my own institution.

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Storage for unopened and unprepared field jackets. Each field jacket is marked with specimen information, collection data, as well as the weight of the jacket. Some of the field jackets are over 1000lbs!

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The storage space where finished specimens live. These are all cataloged and documented. The “type” specimens are locked in a separate room. The Tyrrell has many large specimens stored on open shelving like this, but also a lot of smaller things in cabinets with drawers.

The Collections at the Tyrrell are filled with many specimens that still require preparation, and many that have been beautifully prepared in their enormous lab space.  The space is equipped with rolling tables and mobile dust collection units.  So much of what they work on in here is large blocks filled with dinosaur bones or marine reptiles that open, modular space is essential.  A 3 ton hoist is located at one end of the lab for moving the large jacket from pallets onto the worktables.  There is another, smaller lab space equipped with microscope workstations for more detailed, finer preparation.

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This window looks out into the exhibit space. The preparator’s call their lab the “fish bowl”. A common nick-name for public labs. Always on display, like fish in a bowl…

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Another view of the main preparation lab. A lot of big dinosaurs and marine reptiles get worked on in here. They need lots of space, and can have several work stations with large specimens going at a time.

Truth of the Matter

Posted: April 10, 2013 by Lindsay E Zanno in -Fossil Feather Hide & Seek, Field Blog
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This morning Lisa, Alison, and I unpacked our specimens and gear from the 4 x 4.  Back in the lab, we carefully uncovered our leaf fossils and sorted our amber bits into tiny vials.  We couldn’t help but feel a bit of sorrow… we split around two tons of shale over a three day period, yet turned up no fossil feathers at all.  Beautiful Cretaceous leaf fossils, yes, sparkly veins of “fool’s gold”, seed pods and amber, sure, but feathers, no.

Lisa with her prize

Lisa with her prize

Alison hard at work

Alison hard at work

 

Truth be told, we had expected to come back empty handed in this way but our hopes had kept us going.  After all, how could we embark on an expedition and not hope to find what we were looking for?

Its a good example of the common paleontological plight–days, weeks, even months of searching for ancient organisms sometimes turns up nothing but bloody feet, sore backs, and disappointed scientists.  Yet we just keep on trucking, because around every hillside, in between every layer of shale, and just up that gigantic cliffside, the next big discovery might be made.  Maybe we are just suckers for the adrenaline rush of a great fossil find, but thank goodness we are.  If we weren’t, who else would put up with it?

At the end of the expedition, the spoils pile sure piled up! Wow, that is a lot of split shale.

At the end of the expedition, the spoils pile sure piled up! Wow, that is a lot of split shale.

This morning in the lab as we stabilized the multiple blocks of shale we collected bearing leaf fossils the discovery junkie hit me again… and I wondered… could there be feathers hiding inside the blocks we brought back?

Ah, the familiar rush…

Follow our research blog to learn more about the science of our Alabama fossils and stay tuned for the next expedition launching in June.

Trapped in Time

Posted: April 8, 2013 by Lindsay E Zanno in -Fossil Feather Hide & Seek, Field Blog
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A while of cracking shales to no avail can be discouraging. Every now and then we will get a glimmer of hope, literally. The shales are chock full of amber. The bits are quite small, but we are collecting it so we can check for insects under the scopes back at the lab.

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A Beauty

Posted: April 7, 2013 by Lindsay E Zanno in -Fossil Feather Hide & Seek, Field Blog
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Wow. Lisa split a beauty! Doesn’t this just transport you to a Cretaceous forest?

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