Our Xiphactinus dig featured on River Monsters: backstory

I really hope everyone got a chance to see the River Monsters season finale. Here's a teaser of Jeremy Wade Sharing a bit of what he had learned with us in the field digging up a Xiphactinus audax skeleton.

One of the things he alludes to has a funny backstory. When we first arrived at the site, the film crew's rental minivans couldn't get near where all the equipment needed to be. Not a huge problem, we transferred it to the bed of the bosses truck and away went the gear and most of the crew. I had been riding in vehicles way too much already that morning and decided I'd walk the easy 1/4 mile or so left to the site. Jeremy, the director and an assistant decided this was a good idea as well, so I was able to show them some things in the chalk on the way up. Mostly clams. Lots and lots of clams.

The site is on the opposite side of the butte in the background

Arriving near the digsite site, literally within 4 feet of where the boss parked the truck, while talking to Jeremy about how you have to be in the right place at the right time to find a specimen, I look down and see the face of a newly eroding Xiphactinus specimen poking out of the rock. I COULD NOT HAVE PLANNED IT BETTER. It's really not all that great, but our guests had never seen the discovery of a fossil before, and they seemed pretty thrilled about it. Happy I could oblige.

Can you see it? It's a beauty!

Back in the lab the next day we worked hard to begin the prep on the Xiphactinus specimen RMDRC 14-012, which we nicknamed "Jeremy". Unfortunately, all of that seems to have ended up on the cutting room floor.

Just a few people watching over my shoulder as I prep

Nevertheless, we went ahead and finished prep on "Jeremy". Not the prettiest one, and for the life of me I can't figure out how the face was nicely articulated but the entire braincase was spun off and away. Them's the breaks I guess. As for working with the River Monsters crew again? Name the time and place, they were superb.

I've seen worse

Sclerotics in place still!