Dinosaur Science 2023

I returned to visit the dig site that first sparked my interest in paleontology, but this time as a researcher and not as an undergraduate. Lead by veteran paleontologist Prof. Paul Sereno, the members of the new team - me, post-docs Daniel Vidal and Evan Saitta, and the students of UChicago’s Dinosaur Science 2023 - traveled to Wyoming to finish the excavation of a new diplodocoid from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. While most of the bones of the diplodocoid had been excavated on the previous trip, Dinosaur Science 2019, a few bones including a dorsal vertebra remained to be retrieved.

After arriving at camp, I was greeted with a familiar view of the mountains (below). We then traveled to the red and grey hills of the dig site. With four years between this trip and the last, the hillside encasing the dinosaur had greatly eroded, covering the exposed fossil with several feet of dirt. We used shovels and pickaxes to reach the original rock layer.


^{Mountains near the dig site.}

For a short while, I went off on my own to prospect for fossils. It was completely silent; the red hills devoid of life, or so I thought. I was scanning the ground for fossil fragments when I looked up and locked eyes with Sylvilagus audubonii - the desert cottontail - who had been quietly observing me from a distance.


^{An unexpected but welcome fossil-prospecting assistant.}

After finding a few fossil fragments and bidding the furry critter farewell, I returned to the site of the diplodocoid to continue with excavation. Armed with a drill, we broke through the rock underneath the dorsal vertebra to free it from the ground. The fossil (below) was covered in white plaster and burlap to stabilize it. The color of the actual fossil is black.


^{Using a drill to dig out the plaster-covered fossil. PC: Daniel Vidal}

It took a while to dig out the vertebra, as there was only enough room for two people in the pit surrounding the fossil.


^{Final excavation day of the fossil diplodocoid vertebra. From left to right: Julia Y., Raina DeVries, Evan Saitta, Paul Sereno (back), Dennis R. (front), George C., Dylan P. In the fossil pit: Joshua W., Emma M. PC: Daniel Vidal}

We had to carry our prize, a 300-pound diplodocoid vertebra, up the steep and muddy incline to the transport truck. However, with no machines in sight, our only option was human labor. To prepare the fossil for transport, two blue tarps were laid in a cross formation on the ground. The fossil was rolled on top of the tarps and wrapped up, and then the whole thing was secured with rope. Each person took one end of the tarp, hoisted the fossil up, and walked.

Despite the muddy conditions this year, we managed to retrieve the final bones of the new diplodocoid. The dig site of the diplodocoid has now been retired. All in all, this trip was a nice farewell to my first dig site.


^{Paul Sereno, Evan Saitta, Daniel Vidal, & George Crow carry the diplodocoid vertebra up the hill. PC: Emma M.}