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sciencespies · 5 years ago

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How to Discover Dinosaurs

https://sciencespies.com/nature/how-to-discover-dinosaurs/

How to Discover Dinosaurs

Dinosaur skeletons are the pride and joy of every natural history museum. As throngs of visitors come to marvel at the sizes and unusual shapes of these skeletons, few realize what it takes to find and collect these treasures. It is a job that is physically demanding, requiring long hours in the field—kneeling in the dirt, roasting in the hot sun with the sweat dripping from your brow, while often ignoring back pain and biting insects. However, I can attest, the excitement of uncovering remains of animals that lived countless millennia ago far outweighs any discomfort.

People always ask, “How do you know where to dig?” Well, first we have to find a dinosaur skeleton before we can dig it up. To collect dinosaurs requires careful planning. Unless they are called on to salvage a skeleton already found during construction or mining, paleontologists begin their search for dinosaurs by studying geological maps and reports to identify locations where the rocks might yield dinosaur bones. After securing the necessary fieldwork permits, team leaders select volunteers, assemble equipment and purchase supplies. For off-road transportation, four-wheel-drive vehicles are a must.

The ideal places for dinosaur hunting lack any vegetation cover and are far from human habitation. The best places for finding dinosaurs here in the United States are in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. The most exotic places that I’ve traveled in pursuit of dinosaur fossils have been China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Today, the best dinosaur collecting is in Argentina, China and Mongolia.

The best places for finding dinosaurs here in the United States are in Colorado, Montana, Utah (above: Dinosaur National Monument) and Wyoming.

(Getty Images, DEA / C. DANI I. JESKE / Contributor)

To begin a search at a site, collectors slowly walk across miles of exposures of strata, carefully scanning the ground for bone on the surface. It takes a practiced eye to be able to quickly distinguish fossil bone from the rock. The differences might only be subtle nuances in color and texture.

Once exposed from the rock by wind and rain, dinosaur bones will quickly crumble into pieces. Thus, collectors look for clusters of these broken, weathered pieces. A trickle of bone fragments might lead to a larger source, which, if luck is at hand, leads to more complete remains still buried in the rock.

The initial excavation of a skeleton is done with picks, shovels and jackhammers. This can be physical demanding labor because a lot of overlying rock often has to be removed before the bone layer is exposed.

Once the bone is exposed, we use small hammers, chisels, awls and dental picks to trace the outlines of the bones in the rock. Exposed bone surfaces are often fragile after countless millennia in the ground and require a thin coat of adhesive to strengthen them. Solutions of synthetic polymers, such as polyvinyl acetate, in acetone or ethanol, are used for this purpose. It is important to leave enough rock around bones to protect them during transport to the laboratory.

In 2016, the author and his colleagues announced the discovery of the horse-sized dinosaur, Timurlengia euotica, which was found midway along the cliffs in the Kyzylkum Desert of Uzbekistan.

(NMNH, Igor Danilov)

The braincase proved to be the decisive fossil that lead to the description of the new dinosaur species, Timurlengia euotica (above: in its environment 90-million years ago).

(NMNH, painting by Todd Marshall)

The job of finding dinosaur fossils requires long hours kneeling in the dirt (above: the author in 2016 in Uzbekistan). . .with the sweat dripping from your brow.

(NMNH)

It is imperative to keep detailed documentation concerning the location of a fossil skeleton and its geological context. These data allow paleontologists to determine the geological age of the remains and reconstruct the ancient environment in which the dinosaur lived and died. Without this information, the scientific value of the specimen is greatly diminished.

As a first-year graduate student at the University of Alberta, my first experience was the excavation of a skeleton of an 80-million-year-old duckbilled dinosaur. The fossil had been found weathering out of a hillside along the South Saskatchewan River in southern Alberta, Canada. The rich brown color of its bones stood out beautifully against the grayish-white sandstone. A few tail vertebrae had been exposed and some digging revealed that much more of the skeleton extended into the hillside.

A team from the university spent much of the summer excavating the bones, which turned out to be embedded in a hard sandstone. We had to proceed with care with our duckbill as some limb bones were preserved separate from the rest of the skeleton. The skeleton was large, and we had to divide it into several blocks in order to transport it. We covered each block of the bone-bearing rock in burlap strips, cut from old flour bags and dipped in wet plaster. First, a layer of damp tissue paper was applied to the bones to prevent the plaster from sticking to them. Then layers of plaster bandages were tightly molded to the surfaces of each block. Any loose pieces of bone were wrapped and bagged separately.

In 1923, Charles Whitney Gilmore and his crew spent almost eight years on the recovery of the Diplodocus skeleton from a steep cliff of hard sandstone.

(Smithsonian Institution Archives, SIA Acc. 12-492 )

Once a first round of plastering was completed, we dug trenches around the plaster jackets until they each were supported only by a small pedestal of rock. Then the jackets were turned over and their undersides fully plastered. Pieces of wood or pipe were inserted into the plaster to increase the strength of each jacket. Once dried, the plaster jackets formed a sturdy shell protecting the dinosaur bones inside.

Our dig site was on the side of a cliff so a backhoe was brought in to build a dirt road for moving the blocks up the slope to a truck for transport back to the university. Individual blocks of plaster-jacketed bone-bearing rock can weigh hundreds of pounds or more.

The actual removal of the bones from the rock encasement takes place in the laboratory. The technician opens the plaster jacket using a circular saw. In most cases, the bones are slowly freed from the rock using dental tools and air-scribes—a type of tiny jackhammer. Fine details and small bones are cleaned using carbide needles mounted in pin vises. Broken pieces are mended with adhesive and gaps are filled in with plaster or epoxy resin. This work, once done by stone masons, demands a lot of skill and tremendous patience. Today it is undertaken by specially trained technicians.

Charles Gilmore (above with vertebrae) was never happy about the gargantuan effort it took to wrestle the museum’s prized Diplodocus from the hard sandstone.

(Smithsonian Institution Archives, Image #SIA2008-1929)

Most dinosaurs discovered to date are not known from even partial skeletons. Some species are documented only by a tooth or a leg bone. However, even such fragmentary remains often show distinct features that give enough information that paleontologists are able to identify the kind of dinosaur. When I did fieldwork a few years ago in Uzbekistan with colleagues from that country along with paleontologists from Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we collected many beautifully preserved but isolated bones and teeth representing a considerable variety of 90-million-year-old dinosaurs.

Among these remains were teeth and bones that belonged to a horse-sized, meat-eating dinosaur with blade-like teeth. The first finds only told us that these remains documented the presence of a tyrannosaur, but not whether it represented a new species, or an already known one. Then the team found a tyrannosaur braincase that clearly differed from the braincases of other known tyrannosaurs. This new tyrannosaur became Timurlengia euotica in honor of the 14th century Central Asian ruler Timur Leng (Tamerlane or Timur the Lame). Because the inner ear showed that this dinosaur had keen hearing, we named the new species euotica (Greek for “well-hearing”).

Collecting large dinosaur skeletons often takes a considerable investment of time and effort. A good example of this is the spectacular skeleton of the Jurassic dinosaur Diplodocus that graces the new fossil hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. It was collected by the Smithsonian’s legendary dinosaur hunter, Charles Whitney Gilmore and his crew at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah in 1923. It took him and his technicians almost eight years from the recovery of the skeleton from a steep cliff of hard sandstone to the completion of the mounted skeleton for display.

Gilmore was never happy about this gargantuan effort because he considered the dinosaur primarily of interest as an exhibit but yielding little if any new scientific information. Indeed, millions of visitors have since admired this 90-foot ancient giant.

When European researchers recently reexamined all known specimens of Diplodocus, the Smithsonian skeleton was re-identified as belonging to the uncommon species Diplodocus hallorum.

(NMNH)

But contrary to Gilmore’s expectations, the skeleton continues to be of great interest to paleontologists. Most recently, a team of European researchers re-examined all known specimens of Diplodocus and its close relatives. Their study upended the traditional classification of these dinosaurs. The Smithsonian skeleton was re-identified as belonging to the uncommon species Diplodocus hallorum, the first specimen of which had been reported as “Seismosaurus” in reference to its enormous size.

The Smithsonian skeleton also has unusual features in its tail. Some of the tail vertebrae are fused together and their spines are oddly shaped. Paleontologists consider these features pathological and are still exploring what they might tell us about the life of this ancient giant. Undoubtedly, the Smithsonian’s skeleton of Diplodocus will remain an important resource for future scientific studies on this and related dinosaurs. Gilmore’s eight years of work turned out to be a good investment.

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shooktim-blog · 5 years ago

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Several weeks ago, I had the great opportunity to visit the Mighty Five National Parks of Utah, which includes Arches National Park. The trip was part of an ongoing project with Marriott International, The Americas, to highlight some incredible places around the country, including our national parks. Few would disagree that there is something almost magical about America’s National Parks. Often called America’s Best Idea, each park is the result of years of tireless work on behalf of concerned citizens who wanted lands they felt to be unique and undeniably special protected forever. The National Park System represents the North American model of conservation, which itself was a hard concept to introduce to the general public more than a century ago but today is the standard by which similar parks around the world are judged. Reserving lands for posterity was not a popular idea at the time, but thanks to a handful of forward-thinking individuals, we as a country have now saved some of the planet’s most incredible natural and cultural wonders, including Arches. To help inspire you to visit or just better plan your own trip, here are a few things you should know about Arches National Park.

Arches National Park & Getting There

Exploring the Park in Two Hours

One of the many reasons why I love visiting the National Parks is how accessible they are even if you don’t have a lot of time to visit. Sure, you could spend many days exploring Arches but that’s not a luxury everyone can afford. Just because you don’t have a lot of time doesn’t mean you can’t see the best of the parks. Decades ago a concerted effort was made to create driving loops in almost every National Park to allow visitors to easily and quickly see the best or most popular features of each park. So, if you just have two or three hours yes, you can still experience the best of Arches with ease. One thing to keep in mind about the National Parks of the West though is just how big they are. Even though driving loops exist, the vast size of the parks themselves means you still have a lot of driving to do even if only to see the highlights. Before the trip I purchased a National Parks Annual Pass, which is honestly a smart thing to do if you plan on visiting two or more parks in a year. Not only did it save me money, but it made getting in and out of the parks easier as well. Before tackling the driving route, I stopped off at the visitor’s center to learn more about Arches and which stops along the loop I thought made the most sense for me to see.

Getting to Arches is pretty easy, even if you aren’t visiting all Mighty Five National Parks. Moab, where the park is located, is a popular recreation spot and many people plan vacations just to spend time there and experience the region. I drove from Denver, which admittedly probably isn’t the most common route, but was a very scenic drive. The most convenient option is to fly into Salt Lake City and then make the easy 3-½ hour drive south to start your adventure.

Arches was first designated a National Monument in 1929 and then a Park in 1971; the massive 76,000 acre site recognized for the more than 2,000 sandstone arches that grace its lands. The most famous, Delicate Arch, even adorns the Utah license plate and driving to the park itself it’s hard not to be enthralled by the natural beauty of the region. Arches National Park though is about so much more than its namesake geology, there also exists around the park enormous formations that look like the handiwork of the gods. Spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths are all strewn about the landscape, creating a red rock diorama that looks more like Mars than anywhere on Earth.

According to the rangers at Arches, if you have three hours your can complete the entire driving loop, spending ten minutes at each viewpoint. And, to be honest, if you’ve made the trek to Arches in the first place I can’t imagine spending less time than that. One thing to keep in mind is that Arches is a very popular park, much more so than nearby Canyonlands so you will have traffic to deal with in the park itself and you’ll also need to be patient when it comes time to park your car at each viewpoint. My advice is to arrive early and enjoy as much of the park as you can before the heat of the day and thousands of other intrepid souls join you. There’s a lot to love about exploring Arches National Park, but some of my favorite spots include:

Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers: This is the first section of the park that all visitors see when driving in and, for me at least, it’s one of the most remarkable. Visitors can walk among the massive monoliths and towering walls to see views of the nearby La Sal Mountains. The sheer walls of this canyon reminded early visitors of buildings lining a city street, hence its name. It’s also, I think, the perfect first introduction to the wonders of the park.

The Windows Section: Considered by many to be the heart of the park, here you’ll find a large concentration of arches and it is one of the most scenic locations in the park. There are also a number of short hikes to help visitors better appreciate the beauty of the landscape.

Devils Garden: Located at the very end of the park road and 18 miles north of Arches Visitor Center, this is one of the most rugged areas of the park, but also one of the most impressive. There are a number of arches, spire and fins and many great hikes to help visitors better appreciate the rough and tumble terrain of Southern Utah.

Fun Hikes If You Have More Time

Most National Parks, but especially ones in the American West are a hiker’s dream and in Arches there are certainly plenty of options. I’m not the type of guy to do a daylong hike but, I do enjoy short hikes and I tried several of them while exploring Arches National Park. Here are a few not to be missed, but there are of course many more throughout the park.

Delicate Arch: The park’s most famous formation, it’s what all visitors want to see. Getting there though can be more of a challenge. There are two viewpoints for the arch, one requires no hiking and the other is a moderate hike. If you want to reach the arch itself though, you have to be prepared. It’s 3-miles round-trip and takes between 2-3 hours to do. Starting at Wolfe Ranch, the trail climbs 460 feet up a steep slope and has no shade, so be prepared.

The Windows: This is an easy 1-mile round-trip hike that features the massive North and South windows as well as the Turret Arch. It’s a great way to gain a better appreciation for the park.

Sand Dune Arch: I enjoyed this short hike because it was so different from other areas of the park. The hike is just 0.3 miles round-trip and takes visitors through deep sand and a narrow canyon to a secluded arch tucked among the sandstone fins.

Landscape Arch: Although the park calls this 1.6-mile round-trip hike easy, I’d honestly place it in the moderate category for the average person. It’s well worth the effort though as you hike along a fairly flat trail to reach the massive Landscape Arch, admiring the scenery along the way.

Moab & Where to Stay

One reason Arches is so popular is because it’s very accessible. Located just a few miles from Moab, this small town is the ideal home base to enjoy not only Arches, but also Canyonlands National Park as well as a whole host of other fun recreational activities from rafting to Jeep adventures. Since it’s a major tourist center, there are plenty of places to spend the night but here are two you should keep in mind.

SpringHill Suites Moab: This was one of my favorite hotels of the trip, thanks in large part to how expertly they’ve brought the natural elements into the hotel experience. Set among the region’s famous red rocks, every room enjoys stunning views at this new 99-suite hotel. It’s that suite experience that always makes SpringHill a great option for me; I love having the extra space to spread out and just relax after a long day of exploration. Add in complementary breakfast and one of the closest locations to both Arches and Canyonlands and you have a hotel experience that is hard to beat.

Fairfield Inn & Suites Moab: Located next door to the SpringHill Suites, the Fairfield enjoys the same stunning location and access to the parks, as well as shared amenities like the large and inviting pool. Also like their sister hotel, the Fairfield has thankfully fully embraced its location, making the experience feel unique and bespoke. Add in amazing views of the red rocks and the Colorado River below and you have another incredible hotel to call home for a few days.

Arches National Park is one of the country’s great natural treasures and it should be a place everyone has on their travel bucket list. No matter how you choose to experience the park, just make sure you take the time to experience its grandeur in person for a trip you’ll never forget.

To learn more about Utah’s Mighty Five National Parks, please be sure to listen to the episode of the Explore the World Travel Podcast I devoted to them.

The post Arches National Park: What to Know & Why You Should Visit appeared first on LandLopers.

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