Come on down!

We've finished installing new specimens in the RMDRC's display hall just in time for the holiday weekend. Come by and see the new Appalaciosaurus skeleton, the dromaeosaurus, or maybe even the orca or dugong!

The long-armed tyrannosaur

Packing for scouting

I get a lot of questions about what I bring out with me when I do fieldwork (which hopefully will be starting in a week). It's hard to tell people precisely, so I just decided to get my pack ready for a typical day of scouting in the Kansas chalk.

This is all the equipment I haul around in my pack. It weighs in at 15 pounds, without fossils. I also don't count any of the other gear I am wearing or carrying (such as our "walking shovels").  The Swedish Fish are for luck, the Sour Patch Kids are just tasty. The only thing I forgot to put in the photo is also one of the most important: a pre-flattened roll of toilet paper (flat so yo don't have to chase it downhill with your pants around your ankles when bearcaving). Nobody wants to see that.