SPECIAL POST: HOW TO COLLECT FOSSILS

Hello, everyone! As the trip to Montana dawns on me, I've been thinking a lot about how important it is to take good field notes. Many museums around the world receive donated specimens from amateurs or other enthusiasts, but many of these are of little to no academic value because the collector did not record the necessary information. For this reason, Dr. David Burnham and I have decided to write up this post to show exactly what type of data any fossil collector should record when they find something in the field. With this information readily accessible, we hope that more amateur collectors will take these into account.

FIELD DISCOVERY AND COLLECTION GUIDE

By Kyle Atkins-Weltman and David Burnham

The types of data we are interested in collecting:

1.      Fossils (bone, teeth, plant, etc.)

2.      Rocks (sandstone, mudstone, concretion, etc.)

3.      Photos or sketches of the fossils and rocks

4.      Personal observations

1)      Basics to be recorded if you find something:

a.      Date, page number, name(s) of helper(s), weather or general comments. These things help you remember important contextual information.

b.      Diary of work accomplished that led you to the discovery.

2)       Record the geographic location:

a.      We need to have the geographic coordinates of the discovery (Latitude and Longitude). These will allow us to relocate the site and plot it on a map with other similar finds. If we do not know where a fossil came from we can’t place it in any meaningful context.

b.      Record the elevation to help tell us where it’s located in geologic time. Rock units, such as the Hell Creek Formation, may be deposited over a time of 2 million years so without elevation, we cannot place the fossil precisely within that span. A lot can happen over 2 million years and where a fossil falls within that time is very important for understanding its evolutionary context.

c.       Sketch the field positions of any fossils (bones or fragments) that you have found. These positions help us evaluate the discovery and determine whether or not there is likely to be any other material from the same individual(s), or if there is another reason to follow up on the discovery.

3)       Description of the object collected (fossil, rock or unknown)

a.      Color—this is a clue to confirm it’s a valuable object and how it’s preserved. Pictures are extremely useful for this purpose, though you must make sure to get decent lighting to capture adequate detail.

b.      Orientation (in place or loose on the surface) can help determine if there is likely more there to be found and in what direction to explore further.

c.       Preservation (solid or crumbly) speaks to the quality of preservation and is important in evaluating its significance.

d.      Quantity of material (a few pieces or many fragments)— If there are many bones or fragments, this may indicate a skeleton has been found.

e.      Layer in which it was found— If it is found in a rock layer that is good! If not, it is likely that it has floated away from its source.

4)      Describe surrounding rocks—from this we can tell what the land looked like when the animal was fossilized:

a.      Color—sand is usually tan and represents river or beach; clay is grey and represents a swampy area or a pond.

b.      collect a small sample of the rock and label it—this would be a reference for us to look at without going back into the field.

5)      Photo Log:

a.      Write down what you think the object is, where it occurs, direction of view (North, South, Southwest, etc.), names of people, date and time.

6)      Suggested gear

a.      10X magnifying lens—examine the object for details that may indicate bone vs rock, a small brush to clean away the dirt from the object (its usually better to leave it alone), knife or something to poke around with to tell if its in the rock or laying on the surface, a GPS or a smart phone app, hat, daypack, water, foil to wrap the fossil, zip locs for storage, and a notebook and pencil to record data.

7)      REMEMBER—anything collected belongs to the landowner or the government—there is no such thing as “Finder’s Keepers”. Permission or a permit is always required.