Volunteer Dig With The FLMNH

[digit]

While taking a break to stretch muscles and get blood flowing into the lower extremities that had been contorted into Paleo-yoga-like positions, we ventured over the deeper end of the quarry. On this side a lot of gomphothere material had been recovered (or was still waiting for more overburden to be removed to see what else was attached to what had been uncovered). Dr. Johnathan Bloch (Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology) and Victor, one of the students at the University of Florida were working on a large (though fragmented) piece of gomphothere tusk.

Tammy was busy working on some gomp material of her own in her square. All morning I'd been trying to finish up with my square so I could join her and help her to work on her square which seemed to be packed with gomphothere bones like this rib--one of many she'd been running into and removing from here square.

I was still finishing up with the turtle that materialized in the middle of my square as I was trying to finish it off (causing me to spend more time than I thought I had left in my square) when Tammy came across a large object in her square. At first it didn't look bone-like as it didn't resemble any of the things we'd uncovered so far. This was just about the time of our late lunch (half twelve or so) and Tammy took a break for a snack while I had a closer look. Dr. Hulbert said we should clean off the surface and uncover a bit more and then use the paraloid B72 consolidant to stabilize the bone as it was revealed. Tammy came back to remove more of the higher material nearby so that we could get better access to this object. I could see some indications that this was in fact bone and not some weirdly large phosphate nugget. By the time I finally finished making the pedestal and having Dr. Hulbert jacket my Trachemys turtle I was able to turn my attention to working on uncovering more of this large mystery. As we got more of the specimen revealed Dr. Hulbert was able to finally identify it as the atlas vertebra (first bone in the neck behind the skull) of a gomphothere. With this knowledge we were soon able to locate the center and then determine the overall extent of the entire vertebra which helped in guiding our excavations to make the pedestal and surrounding trough so that it could be jacketed. It's a little hard to make out since it is only partially uncovered but in the last image below you can just make out the concave surface on the left side and can sort of see the curvature of matching concavity on the right side (though still buried under a layer of sand). The image is take from the side that would have faced (and attached to the back of the skull) and the midline of the vertebra is basically the midline of the photo as it is roughly centered in the image. This seems like a good candidate to revisit in the collection after it has been prepped.

At the end of the day we had finished prepping the specimen to be jacketed but ran out of time to get the plaster on before we left. Dr. Hulbert covered the specimen with damp sand and then placed an empty plastic sandbag over the vertebra to mark and protect it till Monday morning when the jacket could be added and the specimen removed for future preparation back in the lab. Though I didn't get to join Tammy on dropping the level of her square as much as we did (given my unplanned detour in uncovering the turtle shell hiding in my square) we did get to finish together working on one of the larger bones to be uncovered from the site that day. It would be real interesting if this atlas vertebra were to be associated with the gomphothere mandible and skull found in adjoining squares--only time will tell.

The gomphothere skull (still awaiting its jacket) is in back of the water bottle at the top of the photo below. Here is how our squares ended up looking at the end of the day. My plans for a neat and tidy square were interrupted (in a good way) by the presence of an articulated turtle carapace that popped-up in the middle and caused me to excavate further that I'd originally planned. Tammy removed a lot of gomphothere ribs and other bones from her square and then, for the big finish, the atlas vertebra at the end of the day.

Tired but happy--the TFF gang at the end of the day:

Cheers.

-Ken

[Ludwigia]

Nice work! Man, that must be a satisfying feeling!

[digit]

The FLMNH really has their act together; if anyone knows of similar opportunities under other auspices, please post about it in the Partners in Paleontology forum.

Great idea. I need to remember about that section of the forum next time I make the announcement about opportunities with FLMNH. I'd love to travel around and volunteer at different dig sites. My significant half is thinking about throwing in the towel and joining the ranks of the retired later this year. If she does, you can bet we'll be looking for all sorts of opportunities to indulge our passion for fossil hunting and working along side scientists.

Nice work! Man, that must be a satisfying feeling!

You know it. While I do love the chance to get out and prospect for fossil sites on my own (or with the help of TFF members), digging at a known rich site like Thomas Farm or Montbrook takes one aspect of uncertainty out of the equation. When you are in a locality that is loaded with fossils the only unknown is what type of fossils you are going to find. To find unusual and important specimens you have to put in the time and effort. The good news is that the FLMNH has already some 30 or so specimens cataloged from our visit to Thomas Farm in 2014. This year we've had two visits to Montbrook and another full work week at Thomas Farm so our contributions to the cause will be steadily growing. While having a few nice fossils spread out around the house to cast a glance at while walking by is nice, it is really the experience of finding new stuff that fuels our passion. I don't know what I'd do with a house packed with a museum's worth of fossil material so I'm really happy that I can contribute to a scientific collection (even if it is only in a limited way). I really do encourage others to check into opportunities to volunteer with museums in their area as the effort expended is repaid manyfold with the satisfaction of contributing.

Cheers.

-Ken

[ynot]