2018 Paleo Post; Year 2!

Paleo Lab 2018 has begun! We have been doing many exciting things since New Year's Day. Jodie and Sara were asked to present a booth at the Natural History Museum of Utah's DinoFest! We selected some real matrix to cover over carved Parasaurolophus "Skeletons" and grid lined the boxes. This let us show guests how one should plot their scientific discoveries on a map for later use in analysis of data.

We were given a phenomenal opportunity to walk through the Natural History Museum of Utah before it opened to the public so we made a bee-line towards their barosaurus for comparison.

He's a large lad that is for sure! 

Over the last few weeks of lab prep we have been trying to clean our three articulated caudal vertebrae and helping our mystery bone lose significant matrix weight. Jodie has almost cleared the matrix from vert #3 and has been trying to keep the neural spine from self destructing as she goes. Fossils may look sturdy, but they are in fact very fragile.

Yesterday's lab adventure gave Sara a dust bath. She was so covered in matrix that her dark hair had frosted tips. Rick said she looked like she was trying to imitate him! 

Below you can see the mystery vertebra. Sara has been trying to isolate the matrix and remove it in larger pieces for dissection at a later time. This will free up this vertebra faster and will help us to move on to the next jacket!

The lab has also had a cranky visitor for the past few weeks. He has been under intensive surgeries and we hope he will make a steady recovery. Sadly, his reaction to medications has given him tendencies to react violently to our lab staff. Poor Rick was nearly stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver so we had to tie him up!

 Thanks so much for being part of our audience as we continue our journey through paleontology prep! See you next time!

No More Jacket!

This was the week we have been waiting a year for! Thursday afternoon we finally removed the largest vertebra from the jacket we have been toiling on week after week. 

Rick and Sara transferred this gigantic fossil over to a temporary stand and removed the field jacket from the preparology table. It is still beastly heavy, though Rick made short work of moving it from table to table.

Say goodbye to plaster and burlap! (Not to mention all that dusty matrix!)

Once the vertebra was removed, it was determined that we do have enough stability to set it upright and continue to clean the surface area. This is the side of the fossil that was face down as we worked on it but it is also the true top of the fossil insomuch as this is how it was oriented when the fossil was found.

This is a side view. The vertebra is skinnier than we expected. We can learn much about the placement of this vertebra in the skeleton from the thickness and shape.

We are incredibly thrilled to have these bones removed from the jacket and are excited to continue preparing them. Now that this jacket is fully extracted, we have room for another project. Stay tuned to see what is in store for the preparologists in the new year.

Brindizi's First Day!!

Last Thursday, the 30th of November, Brindizi joined our Paleolab crew! 

We are very excited to have her on staff with us and can not wait to see her progress as she learns the art of Paleolab preparology! 

Welcome to the team!

Jodie Update Nov 2017

So much progress! We now have 2 1/2 of the smaller vertebrae out and we are getting close to having the the last large one out! 

The back side of the vertebra are still covered in matrix that we need to remove.

This one fragment of vertebra #2 will be the last of our original three articulated bones to be released from the jacket.

It is looking so empty!

Rick is starting to piece all of the small parts that have crumbled off back together. It’s like an insane jigsaw puzzle!

Success in the Lab!

We got a whole vertebra out of the jacket!! *happy dance*

This past Thursday, Sara spent time in the lab and with Rick's help we have a vertebra entirely removed from the matrix in the jacket!

The vertebra was removed along natural break lines that formed in the ground pre-excavation. These lines made it easy to piece it back together once extracted from the jacket.

A small fragment of this vertebra remains in the jacket, and can be adhered later on when we can get it safely out.

In the meantime, Rick has sealed it up with some glue so that it is not damaged.

Here it is! The first caudal vertebra out of the jacket that Jodie and Sara started a year ago to the day.

It's good to be in the lab. :)

Royal Ontario Museum Barosaurus video from 2007

Not many of you know, but one of the ladies in our lab is Canadian! This is a video from her old stomping grounds, Toronto Ontario Canada which shows the mounting of a complete Barosaurus skeleton in the Royal Ontario Museum. This skeleton was discovered in their archives back in 2007 and was quickly put back together. (Story and link below the video)

 This video is older, but it shows you what we hope to have once we are done the preparatory work on our own Barosaurus.

"This is a fascinating and somewhat humorous story, and one the Museum is extremely pleased to tell,” said the ROM’s Director and CEO William Thorsell.

Dr. David Evans, new Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology in the ROM’s Department of Natural History, found the ultimate “skeleton in the closet.” Arriving in May 2007 to head up the ROM’s dinosaur research program, one of his first jobs was to find a sauropod dinosaur for display in the new Age of Dinosaurs gallery. The ROM’s new gallery already included excellent specimens of three of the four most recognizable dinosaur types – T.Rex, Triceratops, and Stegasaurus – but none of the largest dinosaurs, the sauropods.

After spending months investigating options, including purchasing a cast or even digging one up, Evans found what he was looking for in an unexpected place. While on a related trip to Wyoming, he was reading an article by famed sauropod expert Jack McIntosh when something caught his eye -- a reference to a Barosaurus skeleton at the ROM. The ROM’s databases turned up a blank, but after connecting the disparate dinosaur dots Evans was able to show that what were thought to be isolated bones scattered throughout the collections room actually belonged to a single dinosaur.

"It was an exciting day,” says Evans. “We were searching for an iconic sauropod skeleton, and we had one under our noses the whole time. When all the parts were pulled together, we realized just how much of the animal the ROM actually had -- the better part of a skeleton of a rare, giant, dinosaur.”

The Barosaurus skeleton includes four massive neck vertebrae, a complete set of vertebrae from the back, the pelvis, 14 tail vertebrae, both upper arm bones, both thigh bones (each of which is over 140 cm (55 inches) in length), a lower leg, and various other pieces. The entire assembled skeleton is approximately 27 metres (90 feet) in length, and when alive the animal would have weighed as much as 15,000 kilograms (15 tonnes)."  

( Credit: https://www.rom.on.ca/en/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/massive-barosaurus-skeleton-discovered-at-the-rom )

Fish Dig Excursion 2017

Jodie, Bryn, Sara

Welcome back to PaleoLab! This weekend we made a trek into the hills (and the desert) to find fish fossils. We met at 6:30 and collected our gear and water and headed out of state to an awesome location in Wyoming.  Jodie and Sara had husbands in tow. Once we arrived at our quarry we were loosed on an amazing wall of sandstone that had settled in sediment layers which were easily pried loose with a rock hammer and a chisel. 

Rick Hunter 

In this image you can see an ash layer of orange at Rick's eye level. Not all, but the majority of fish found were near or below this layer.

The formation is one of the largest lacustrine (i.e., lake) sedimentary accumulations in the world, averages some 2,000 feet thick, and spans the period 40 to 50 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era. (Data credit http://orerockon.com)

                                       Jodie                                                                 Kevin

Jodie: Six hours straight of dismantling a cliff, inch by inch, with a hammer and chisel and then breaking each piece into thin sheets with said chisel and hammer not only helps you find cool fossils, it turns your arm muscles into jelly. I've done my arm workout today.                                                        

                                                Fish Fossils - Kevin found some cool ones!

                                           Sara                                                             Justin

Sara: We were blessed to be in a location where the sun creates a pocket of shade precisely where we were standing to excavate. The heat was not overly intense, but the direct rays could have made for devastating sun burns. You see, we were so involved in our fish finding, that it was easy to forget to drink water or apply sunscreen!

                                                                              Bryn

Bryn: Oh. Hello there little guy! I wonder who you belong to....

Bryn is our resident geologist and lab cohort. Nearly every rock that she lay eyes on managed to spark her excitement. It was amazing to have her with us.

   Bryn, Sara, Rick

                                                                  Rick, Jodie, Kevin

A crate of excavated Fish.

Justin and our tent headquarters.

Packed up and ready to roll out for dinner!

This little guy is amazing!

This is the head of a large fish, you can likely imagine a Pike and be close to shape and length.

You can almost imagine them swimming through the matrix.

This trip was an incredible experience and we are all very excited to return again soon!