Like I've been building up for the past week, today's Sci-Day is very exciting, and is not like any other Sci-Day. Rather than talking about a general concept in science, this is going to be about a very specific paleontological endeavor that is in progress right now: the excavation of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.
I managed to help secure a large portion of the funding necessary for this excavation that is led by the Vertebrate Paleontology team here at the University of Kansas. Additionally, I will be going out to the site (in Montana) for a week sometime this summer to help with the dig. I think that anyone who truly understands what Dinosaur Battlegrounds is about can see why this is very exciting! While I do have some lab experience and have read many papers and published literature on paleontology, I have never actually had the chance to go out into the field and uncover fossils. I hope that this will be only the first of many more such expeditions in the future!
Another reason this is so wonderful is because it gives me a chance to give back to the paleontological community - the reason Dinosaur Battlegrounds has resonated with so many people and has the potential to do so well is because our focus is on accuracy. Our accuracy is based on the hard work and sweat of many smart, experienced people who have dedicated their lives to learning about the ancient earth. If it weren't for them, Dinosaur Battlegrounds would be nothing more than just another dinosaur game. We owe them our gratitude, and it is only fair that we do our part.
Furthermore, in order for us to be as accurate as possible, we need to learn as much as we can about the ecosystems we are working to restore. To do that, we need to fund research and field expeditions as much as possible so that we can continue to improve our simulations. Further field expeditions could yield more complete remains of various species that we had to make lots of approximations for, it could help us reduce the number of 'placeholder models', and things of that nature. As we start expanding to include formations such as the Kem Kem beds (with Spinosaurus), this will become even more critical as even the 'main attraction' species are rather mysterious and not much is known with extreme certainty.
Later today, I will post a second Sci-Day after talking with Dr. Krishtalka (he was the one who proposed this fantastic opportunity, I am forever in his debt), giving a bit more information about the specific T Rex, and other things of that nature. I also plan to have a day-by-day journal during the experience, talking about things as they are going along, so that all of our fans can get a true idea of what field work is actually like. I will also talk a little bit about preparations beforehand, so that people can understand a bit about what it takes. This way, for any of you who are hoping to one day enter the fascinating and wonderful field of paleontology, you know what things you will need!
I hope you all are at least half as excited about this as I am - seeing fossils on display or in a museum collection is one thing, but the experience of actually unearthing them from the rock is another! I'd like to thank Doctor Leonard Krishtalka as well as everyone on the KU Vertebrate Paleontology team for offering me this opportunity, and for being so helpful as resources of information on all things prehistoric!
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