Last week we learned and shared information about paleontologists who study dinosaurs. This week, let's imagine a field trip to find our own dinosaur remains! Search the Internet for news of dinosaur discoveries in places outside of North America and China. Figure out how you, yourself, would get to the same location and what it would be like to join in a field trip to prospect for dinosaur treasures where the earlier discoveries were made.
Choose a country that has not already been commented on. So be sure to read what others have posted so you can look for a different spot. Choose just one country, describe the location of the dinosaur discovery and details about that specific dinosaur fossil (and share a link to the information about this find). Describe the conditions under which you would be working to find more of the same dinosaur remains at the same spot.
For example, I will say that I have decided to travel to Ethiopia to collect more dinosaur teeth just like those teeth collected by paleontologist Mark Goodwin and his crew along the cliffs of the Blue Nile Gorge. Here is a link to some photos from one of the sites that the Goodwin team visited: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/bluenile.html.
Just like that team, I flew into the city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (on this imaginary trip). I had brought collecting gear with me but still needed to acquire sacks and boxes to securely and safely hold any fossils my team would collect. So I visited the market place, an exciting and loud experience, where many people were selling spices, clothes, jewelry and household items of all sorts. After that I went to the "Authority for Research" in Ethiopia and obtained my collecting permit. Details ("field notes") of this part of the trip can be found here: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/science/fieldnotes/goodwin_0801.php.
To make a longer story short, we drove our jeeps down to the fossil location which is along the great Rift Valley (see photographs on the links above). We had to hike down to the base of tall cliffs of mudstone that were Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in age. Most of the fossils that we found were fragments of bone and teeth from dinosaurs and mammals. It was a great trip, a bit hot and buggy, but well worth the effort and three weeks we spent there.
So that is the story of my imaginary trip to Ethiopia. No one else can now choose Ethiopia for the country of their own field trip. Now tell us about your adventure! Thanks. Dr. B.
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For my trip to find fossils I have decided to fly to Antarctica to explore the Central Trans-Antarctic Mountains. In the past there have been several well preserved ornithischian fossils discovered, and we have received confirmation of a possible fossil location. We're looking to head around Mt. Kirkpatrick.
In preparation I am hitting REI and grabbing some major ice environment clothing, ice picks, specific high calorie foods and such. The really awesome thing about these mountains, is that they were, a long time ago, a part of a temperate rain forest. Typically fossils wouldn't be well preserved in temperate rain forests, but the changing climate allowed some really special specimens to be preserved.
I took a very long flight to a private airport to a helicopter and finally to a small encampment where we started preparing for the upcoming exploration and potential excavation.
We basically have a short three month window to work before the harsh winters set in, and make extraction impossible, so we work long hours. We have a mildly successful first half of the three months with a major discovery in the last month.
My imaginary field trip is to Patagonia, Argentina to follow up on all of the amazing discovers being found by Drexel University’s Kenneth Lacovara, PhD. A fossil rich area, known as the “end of the world,” full of the bones of the enormous Dreadnoughtus, makes this an appealing mission. Because this location is so far from “civilization,” where there are no roads and we were hundred of miles off the grid, getting there involved rafting down a glacial stream and then hiking to the fossil rich mountains. The field location was so remote that we could only bring sparse supplies, so my fieldworkers and I packed practically. We were very close to Antarctica, so we battled cold day and night.
Knowing that anything we find automatically becomes the property of the Argentinean government under law, we petitioned for permission to extract and take any fossils that may be found back in the US, on temporary loan, to ensure rapport with the fossils’ home country. This had taken years, but proved to be worthwhile when we finally hit pay dirt. We discovered a wealth of iron rich fossilized bones of the late Cretaceous period marvels, the Dreadnoughtus. Getting them out of just a isolated area was difficult though. We tried to enlist the help of the Argentinean Air force to have them airlifted out, but after complications we decided to build sleighs out of wood and metal and have some local workers and their horses carefully carry them out through the dense jungle. This way no easy task considering the size of the fossils, the surrounding matrix we left on to ensure stability and the jacket it was enclosed in. All around the field trip was incredibly difficult, physically and mentally, yet the fossils will yield decades of study and help us understand the largest recorded land animal to date.
Pictures and description of Patagonian field work which inspired my trip: http://newsblog.drexel.edu/2014/09/10/digging-deeper-into-dreadnoughtus-dinosaur-interview-part-2/
Interview with the man who inspired my imaginary journey: http://stem-worksblog.com/2014/09/17/the-road-to-dreadnoughtus-cool-jobs-alumnus-dr-kenneth-lacovaras-titanic-journey/
I just heard there was a dinosaur finding in South Korea. I Have never been there and I think it is time to go. They have discovered it fall into the category of the raptor genre. These photos are amazing on their web site found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/28/complete-tiny-dinosaur-skeleton_n_6223724.html
I did some research on when to travel to South Korea and tips about the country. whhttp://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/south-korea/when-to-go/en to visit and I found a very useful website.
I will definitely go in the spring because they say all the flowers are in bloom and it is a magnificent site. I better start saving my money because this trip will be expensive; however I have wanted to travel overseas and there is not a better reason then hunting dinosaurs bones and smelling the sweet scents on the city.
For my trip I have decided to travel to the land down under: Australia. Here I hope to unearth any number of bones possibly those of a large Sauropod dinosaur (Wintonotitan). Bones like these have been recently found by research associate and paleontologist Dr Stephen Poropat and his team. The location is in outback Queensland, near the Austrailian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, in Winton, Queensland.
First I set out on a long flight to Longreach, Austrailia, and after landing had to catch another short flight into Winton. I had to make sure I was there on a Tuesday or Wednesday due to this being the only days that the flight service into the small area operates. Once arriving there I first headed over to the Age of Dinosaurs Museum to meet up with Dr. Poropat, who was kind enough to have lunch with me and take me on a fascinating tour. I brought my things to the Carisbrooke Station & Farm Stay where I decided to lay my head. After settling in and getting a good nights rest, I rejoined with Dr. Poropat in the morning at the location near the museum where he and his team showed me the best tips to their discoveries. The team have been tipped-off by the large number of weathered bone fragments showing up on the surface. They showed me that when they find these fragments, they dig down about 1 to 2 meters underground and that has been where they have found huge discoveries. Lucky me, after doing just this for 3 days, I like them, uncovered a “graveyard” of bones ; limbs, vertebrate, and tons of other bones joined by rocky concretions. I was able to use my skills I have learned to carefully help unearth the specimens, and Dr. Poropat and his team took them back to the museum for further research as I had a plane to catch! What an amazing time in Austrailia! I can’t wait to hear what they find out while researching these finds!
Article Source:
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/06/huge-dinosaur-bones-found-in-queensland/
Link to Museum:
http://australianageofdinosaurs.com
Getting to Winton:
http://www.experiencewinton.com.au/en_US/travel-info
Our expedition takes us to Southern Germany, a city in Bavaria called Munich.
Day 1:
Arrived at the excavation site and set up camp. The fossil search locations were marked and our tents were set up. We are looking at areas mainly on some of the hills here as they provide the highest concentration of sediment and allow us to possibly find exposed bones. The base of them should provide adequate areas as any washed fossils from the hills will settle at the bottom.
I'm sleeping in the same tent as our guide, Hans. He's an expert navigator of the region to make sure we don't get lost and eaten by the lack of wildlife here. There are no such things as deadly snakes or spiders here. Everything is mild like the weather.
Day 8:
Our excavations have been monotonous for the time being, we have cleared some areas we were interested in but found nothing. The team remains hopeful, except for Hans. Hans spends all day drinking and complaining about the heat, and if we ask him to help he says he's the guide and needs to keep his mind alert. We channel all our frustrations onto him instead. It's a nice compromise. Thankfully he doesn't tread where we're looking.
Day 9:
Hans died in a bizarre gardening accident.
Day 16:
We've uncovered what seems to be a carnivorous dinosaur. As we uncover more of the area around it we find a more complete skeleton. Our digging procedures have become slower because we are unsure if there are more exponentially more important skeletons around it.
As for transporting it, we will try moving what separate pieces we can without separating any bone pieces ourselves. Hopefully, we can have it moved safely by train and then drive it to the museum up in Munich.
Here's the article on the find:
http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/10/stunningly_intact_dinosaur_fos.html
Last year I went down to the Ica Province in Peru to explore the Ica Valley where the infamous Ica stones were discovered in the sixties by Javier Cabrera Darquea. The stones, for those unfamiliar, were ancient stones estimated at 405 ma depicting dinosaurs with advanced technology (weapons, tools, etc). Not only did this spark my curiosity, it also sparked my skeptical side. There was only one way to feed this craving and that was to organize a team to go investigate for myself. Perhaps I would find a couple remains of dinosaurs and their "advanced technology" they left behind...
I received a grant from the University of Phoenix to fund my trip, so I was able to stock up on plenty of supplies for me and my crew of three other explorers (er, part-time sales associates like me). Okay, so we quit our jobs and ventured on a trip to Peru with me being the only person with a couple years of Spanish under my belt. To say we were inexperienced, was an understatement.
After purchasing all our gear and equipment at Eddie Bauer, we were ready for our excavation and investigation in the Peruvian valley of the former Incan Empire. We flew into the countries' capital, Lima where we met up with our muchacha guía who would bring us to our destination in the Ica valley; the site where the Ica stones were first discovered nearly fifty years ago.
We met some locals in the area that understood what we were looking for; las piedras. They smiled and gave us insight into some of the legends behind the stones -truca de bromista, they called them. I was unfamiliar with this term, but it only heightened my curiosity into these mystical stones and what fossils we may unearth in the surrounding hills. After all, nobody had thought to go looking for these since the mid-seventies for some unknown reason.
We stayed the night in a small hotel in Santiago and were treated with a nice ceña from the owner. We knew it would be our last decent meal before we set off into the foothills the next morning. The owner even made us sign us an agreement and fill out our emergency contact numbers back in the States. -That was awfully nice of him.
The first day led us to a small cave where it was rumored the stones were first discovered, but we found nothing but coyote dung. We camped more than a hundred feet away from the cave, but we didn't sleep much because the coyote calls kept us up all night. The second day we were sleep-deprived as we trudge through the deep forests. Finally we reached an area along a small lake in the mountains that had dried up from drought. If we were going to find any fossils, this was the area in which we were going to do it.
Three days of digging and examining sedimentary rocks around the lake bed to no avail had taken it's toll on us and we finally decided (after nearly killing each other from cabin fever) that we were going to head back to civilization. We weren't expecting to find some breakthrough in our understanding of history like the stones led us to believe, but we were hoping we'd at least find some trace fossils like a footprint or something.
With our hearts heavy and our throats dry, we arrived back in Santiago where we settled back into our hotel room. After a few bottles of beer at the local cervecería, we were introduced to a man named Uschuya who said he knew more about the Ica Stones. We pressed him for details, desperate to learn anything at this point. That's when he told us he used to sell them as souvenirs for gullible tourists. We looked at him square and he proceeded to tell us that the stones were made by etching over comic magazines and baking them in mierda.
So, that's how I learned not to believe everything you hear and to do more preliminary investigations before you set out on an excavation 5,000 miles away!
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140917-on-the-hunt-for-dinosaur-eggs-in-mongolia
I decided to travel to the South Gobi Desert in Mongolia to search for dinosaur remains. Although that area is now a desert, it was once an inland sea where life flourished 80 million years ago.
I took 18 hurs flight to the capital city Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, and drvoe hours to the desert area. The first thing to do is to built up the tents and set up the camp because we planned to stay a week here.
On the second day, we drove to the Flaming Cliffs about 20km east of the Threee Camel Lodge to look for dinosaur reamains. In the early 1920s, The team led by Andrews found dinosaur eggs and bones in this area.
We spent days in this area searching for bones, but we did not find a single bone. Although it was a bit disappointing, we had a great time here and imagined that we were sitting on the history of dinosaurs.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/motorboat-sized-predator-swam-in-jurassic-scotland-150111.htm
I made the decision to travel to Scotland to search for some underwater predators. The plane ride was about 14 and a half hours. When we first arrived we had the intention of looking for any type of creature I was hoping personally to see a "Dearcmhara" Thats what some paleontologist call the Loch Ness Monsters cousin. But with all the excavating we ran into a different creature. The name of the creature was " Dearcmhara shawcrossi" a 14" foot marine predator that dominated the oceans 170 million years ago that was practically on the top of the food chain. I always find underwater marine life fascinating so I was very happy to look over its bones.
I will be joining an Indo-American team of paleontologists and geologists. This team includes Ashok Sahni, paleontologist and Suresh Srivastava, GSI. The area we are heading is the Rhioli Village near the Narmada River in India.
We've packed supplies necessary for the 7-8 month dry season. Our time is limited by the monsoons that will come. We are able to make part of the journey by river, between cliffs of green and brown volcanic rocks and part by hiking into a decidous forest where we have to watch for tigers, leopards, and wild dogs. We also have to be mindful of the ongoing conflicts between the government and the people over water and land. The government wants to build a dam and if that happens we could potentially loose a lot of fossil history. The pressure is on to find as much information and dinosaurs fossils as soon as possible.
Arriving at the village, we find fossils strewn about. We map the location of each of the bones, study the geology of the surrounding area, and carefully collect the fossils. Back at the lab we discover we have found a new species of dinosaur, Rajasaurus. The links below will give you insight on this dinosaur and pictures of what they may have looked like.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0812_030812_indiadinosaur.html
http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2003/08/14/stories/2003081401741100.htm
Kathryn O'Connor
For my expedition I would like to explore southern parts of Brazil in search of winged dinosaurs. In August 2014 47 previously unknown winged dinosaurs were excavated from the early Cretaceous period. Among previous finds there were Pterosaurus which were winged reptiles (that technically don't fit into our definition of dinosaurs). This potential however due to the age of the rocks and the land would peak my curiosity.
I would arrange a flight with a travel agency, anxious because I hate planes. I would begin to gather materials and have to think of who to bring along with me in the search. People who were patient, strong, determined, and had a sense of adventure. I would post an ad on craigslist since I don't have any pofressiona lfriends but of course Dr. B I would invite you as well.
I got a response from Robert Charles, Douglas Oliver, and Eilish Malone on craigslist who just so happened to be experienced fossil collectors. Douglas helped map out the trip and pack our bags. We debate bringing the toilet paper in bulk from the US but are worried about the amount of space it takes in our baggage.
When we arrive to Brazil it takes us awhile to get checked into our low budget motel since we haven't gotten much funding for our journey. Eilish Malone is a skilled linguist anthropologist and helps us discuss our intended route to the site with the locals.
We toil fruitlessly with high spirits for hours, then days. Six days pass before we find remains of teeth and a hip joint of what we later examine and determine to be from a Teyuwasu, a bipedal meat eating dinosaur from the Triassic period.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/11032567/New-species-of-flying-dinosaur-discovered-in-Brazil.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/indexte.shtml#Teyuwasu
In February last year, I was told by a friend that a strange giant bone had been seen in a village , in the western part of Argentina. Immediately, I decided to go there and see things by myself.
Three month later, I gather my people and material and we flied to Argentina. Things were not as easy as i thought it would be. Once in the village, we have been to the site and i realized that it was a bone of the Titanosaur a very huge dinosaur in a rock of several million years. The big problem we had to deal with before any action was to have authorization to extract that bone and probably some other fossils. The problem was that the villagers did not want us to destroy the rock because for them it is sacred and that bone was probably the bone of one of their ancestors. And taking this out of the sacred rock was a sort of abomination. I was very confused because it is very difficult and almost impossible to convince somebody when the reason he gives you is a religious reason or based on their belief.
So it took me about 7 weeks to discuss with them trying to explain to them the origin of the earth and the presence of the Dinosaurs by showing them images and other discoveries i made in several other countries. In the 7th week, with the support of the government which was waiting for the approval of the villager to deliver the exploitation permit, we convinced them based on only one condition. We needed to make some sacrifices, that ways their gods would not be mad at them. I found it absurd but i was ready to do all in my power to have this bone and probably some other things.
After the sacrifices ceremonies and receiving the exploitation permit from the government, we started our job during one month. At the end of this period, we finally took out the bone of the dinosaur and fortunately some teeth. The following month, we parked everything and came back home to analyze the fossils.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/dinosaur-discoveries-in-2014-included-huge-titanosaur-micro-tyrannosaur-1.2878979
Scientists in Portugal have discovered the largest carnivorous dinosaur in all of Europe. It was 33 feet long weighed about 4-5 tons and was a biped, it closely resembles the T. rex
but this one has been classified as Torvosaurus gurneyi and it also may have been covered by an early type of feather. The first remains of it were discovered by and amateur fossil hunter
in 2003 in the rock cliffs of Lourinha about 45 minutes north of Lisbon. It has been dated to the late Jurassic period.
I would fly into Madrid after a stop over in New York and Berlin. Then I would rent a car and drive it west towards Lisbon.
I brought much of my tools with me but I have to stop in Lisbon and find some of the particulars along with any of the big items that I need, as well as
food for myself and my party, tents, and water. I would need to find the place in Lisbon where I could get a collecting permit, so my finds wouldn't be illegal. Then I'd drive up to the rock cliffs by Lourinha to scout the location, it's slightly arid but it's near the sea
so temperatures stay moderately temperate and the average rainfall for this time of year is relatively low. I would have to rent a place in Lourinha to be closer to the cliffs than if I was in Lisbon,
and it's only a short hike from the town to the fossil site.
http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-dinosaur-scourge-jurassic-europe-224650959.html;_ylt=AwrTcc0WX8RUdKcAmDwnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEzcjc5ZW45BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDOQRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lIUzAwMl8x
For my expedition I am traveling to a very unlikely site: Venezuela. Because it is mostly a humid and tropical environment, it is not the most practical place to try to find dinosaurs. However in recent years, there have been a couple interesting species discovered there, including the Tachiraptor. I would like to continue looking to see if Venezuela has any more dinosaur secrets to be discovered.
I will be joining the team of Paul Barrett, who led the discovery of the Laquintasaura in Venezuela.
After arranging a flight with them to Venezuela, I am sure to stock up on lightweight cottons to wear during my expedition. I also bought some bug spray and brushed up on my Spanish as it is the official language there. Venezuela is not the safest country so we have arranged to have an escort to our excavation site.
It is difficult to find fossils in Venezuela. When Barrett was here last, he had to dig up plants and underbrush to find any fossils. But that is our plan, and we hope to discover even more dinosaurs in the country that was previously thought to not have any at all.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/dinosaurs/scrappy-bloodthirsty-dino-found-in-venezuela-141007.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/28676590
I want to take my trip to Northern Mexican state of Coahuila. Back in late 2013 archeologists found the remains of what experts say could be a 72 million year old dinosaur. I believe if they found one there are probably more. in the clip I included the dinosaur appears to me to be one who called the earth (no hind legs like others). I am so curious to know what it really was and what it looked like so I am searching now, but I would like to go there to assist with finding out everything there is to know about the one found then and the others that I believe are still hidden in the various spots. I would be there one to scribe all of the process; a step by step documentation of each finding. I would also assist with gathering the materials/tools needed for the searches and digs. Once we found anything I would make sure I shared it with all of you *hehe* so we could talk about it and I would send pictures so everyone could see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maSjPJb4rbQ
My daydream trip is to southeastern Tanzania in East Africa. After a 40 hours, and only two stops, I will meet up with my fellow Scientists from Ohio University. The elephant sightings and abundant bird life hardly distract me from my excitement. We have found a cash cow of vetrebe, pelvic bone, ribs and limbs of a titanosaurian (Rukwatitan bisepultus). Thanks to CT scans we have been able to come to this conclusion. This is the fourth found in Africa, there have been thirty found in South America. We are filling in many blanks that we did not know about this species. Born and raised in Seattle has not prepared me for the humidity. I have been the pun of so many jokes from my Ohio peers for this fact. They describe it as pleasant!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/titanosaur-africa-new-dinosaur-species_n_5786216.html?1420035249
I will be meeting up with the team from Ohio University led by Patrick O’Connor in Tanzania. We will be looking for fossils in the steep quarry in the Rukwa Rift Basin also known as the Galula Formation. I will be flying to the Dar es Salaam airport, a very long flight, and then hoping on a plane to the Mbeya airport. Once landing, I rent a jeep and drive to the quarry to meet up with the team.
The team only has a few months of clear weather before the rain begins and the weather heats up; we are here from July through September. There have been various fossils found of fish, turtles, etc., but the most exciting find is the bones of the Rukwatitan bisepultus. We have found ribs and a pelvic bone. With the help by the University of Dar es Salaam and Tanzania government, we are able to excavate the bones and bring them back to study. Our time in Tanzania has come to an end, at least for this year and I hope to be back with the team next year.
*The following year we found a vertebrae and limbs that belong to the Rukwatitan bisepultus.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_videos.jsp?cntn_id=132512&media_id=77072&org=NSF
http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-oconnor/researchpfp.html#Rukwa
http://www.ohio.edu/research/communications/rukwatitan.cfm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/baby-dinosaurs-fossils-china-embryos_n_3057436.html
I would like to take a trip to China. We went to Yunnan Province in 2010. And I met a Taiwan amateur archaeologist named Timothy Huang. He is a chemist at National Chung Hsing Univerity in Taiwan.
When we discovering, this bone bad has an area of about 3 quare feet and a thickness of about 4 to 8 inches. In this small patch, we eventually uncovered more than 200 itsy-bitsy bones.
When we goes to the research lab, and he found thant "this embryo tells us quite a bit about early embryonic stages and changes that occur in the embrynoic life of these animals- something we have not really seen before. "
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