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| Title | Fossils |
| Transcript | More ancient bones were unearthed recently on the shores of Lake Francis Case. A • team of fossil hunters, associated with the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, excavated some of the remains and re-turned to Rapid City with the find. Earlier this year the ADVOCATE carried a story on the finding of fossilized bones near Lake Francis Case. Marvin and Helen Svoboda discovered some of the remains of a reptile that lived nearly 85 million years ago. Recently, another find was made, and a Sunday outing turned into an excavation project that.lasted three days. The Svobodas, again strolling the shores of the Lake JVrancis uase reservoir, happened across what appeared to- be more fossilized bones. They again contacted Dr. James Martin, a Paleontologist at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and advised him of their find. Dr. Martin was at the lake last spring for the Svoboda's first find. The Paleontologist invited four associates to accompany him for a 'Sunday outing*. That weekend excursion, however, turned out to be just a bit more than they had bargained for. Upon arriving at the lake, the group first looked at the original site that had been discovered by the Svobodas. While walking to the location of the most recent find, they happened upon a peculiar area on the shore, and <lid some tentative scratching. First to be unearthed was a fossilized portion of a Mosasarus tail. Tylosaurus" Mosasaurus was, perhaps, the largest lizzard that ever lived. This particular species inhabited the earth some 85 million years ago and roamed the oceans that covered much of the world at that time. While two members of the group began unearthing the tail section, the others started snooping around, looking for the rest of the crea-*ture. More curious probing brought about the finding of most of the skull, and there may oe mure. Dan Varner, a free lance artist from Minneapolis who creates scientific illustrations, was one of those accompanying Dr. Martin. "I did it in the summer and do pictures of it in the winter, " said Varner. His 'pictures' include book illustrations and illustrations for scientific ar- Continued on Page 7 Dan Varner and Dr. James Martin use painstaking care, to strip away the centuries of earth that have hidden the bones of a great sea lizard. This tail section of the specimen was worked on by Dave Gillette and Janet Whitmore. The bones were covered with toilet paper prior to being splinted for transportation. What began as tentative searching by Varner and Dr. Martin wound up being a plaster cast for the head of a Mosasarus lizard. The bones and earth surrounding them were held in place with plaster and logs, and transported from the banks of Lake Francis Case to Rapid City. Fossils taken to School of Mines Continued from Page 1 To the trained eye, a rock becomes a fossil-bearing piece of shale. Paleontologist JD Stewart shows Marvin Svoboda two pieces of shale; one with a shell impression, and the other with fossilized bird bones imbedded in the stone. been in invertebrates. The fifth member of the team was Dave Gillette, ing soil still attached to them. Dr. Martin said that a good deal of information Gillette, Whitmore and Helen Svoboda worked with plaster-soaked burlap and sticks to create a splint. Once the plaster has set, digging underneath the fossils is completed and they can be moved. tides. Varner took Dr. Mar-Ltin's field class a dozen fyears ago and that is what got him started. For the past two years, Varner has been working with Jim Martin on a special survey of the South Dakota Buffalo Gap National Grassland fossils. JD Stewart, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Palentology at the National Historical Museum in Los Angeles County, California, was also along for the 'outing1. A Kansas native, Stewart said, "I grew up hunting creatures like this, but never found anything quite this big." A graduate of the University of Kansas, he began working with the California museum in 1985. He also said he is interested in comparing finds from Kansas with fossils from locations further to the north. "I'm trying to get the big picture about what hap- pened in the seaway of what used to be an ocean." Janet Whitmore was also a member of Dr. Martin's team. Whitmore, who has been Collections Manager for the museum at the South Dakota School of Mines since 1990, was a student prior to that time. She was also involved in Dr. Martin's field class in 1980, and got her 'first taste' of fossil hunting. Prior to that field class, her interests had Utah, Gillette who, "came to South Dakota for a long weekend, " and "came along to help out", deals primarily with dinosaurs in his research. Most recently he has been working on an extremely large dinosaur that has been found in Utah. This particular specimen was found in what was once a creek bed. The bones were buried in bentonite, a clay substance that was once volcanic ash. The remains are In generally poor condition and the scientists surmised that because the bones were in a stream bed, they were exposed to the elements from time to time. The bentonite tomb also caused considerable damage because of being wet and then drying. The extremes cause the fossilized bones to crack. Although a good sized animal, the poor condition of the fossils relegate it to becoming a research specimen In order to move the bones, casts were made, and the bones were moved with much of the surround- tHe earth some 85 million years ago and roamed the oceans that covered much of the world at that time. While two members of the group began unearthing the tail section, the others started snooping around, looking for the rest of the creature. More curious probing HrnncrVtt olviiit tVtp finHinp flf the material that surrounds the fossils. In order to move remains, in tact, the surface side of the fossils is cleaned. Painstaking care is used to clean the top half of the bones. The exposed surface is covered with moist toilet paper. The tissue serves as a barrier between the fossils and the plaster that is used to make them rigid. When the bones have been covered with tissue, several coatings of plaster wrap (a commercial gauze impregnated with plaster) are applied. When this initial wrap has set up, more of the soil under the fossils is removed. Holes are dug through from side to side and the ends are cleared in order to make splinting possible. Sticks or logs (depending on the size of the fossil to be moved) are then laid over the top, and a splint is created using plaster soaked burlap as the final wrap. The burlap/plaster wrap is placed over the logs and is wrapped through the holes that have been dug under the bones. When this final wrap has dried, the remaining dirt is removed, and the fossils, held firmly in place by the stick/plaster splint, can be moved. The teams excavation efforts took them through their first Sunday afternoon and late into the evening. They began again on Mon- Wed., November 18, 1992 —Page 7 GREGORY TIMES-ADVOCATE day afternoon, and worked through a Tuesday morning in order to secure their find. In all, a section of the tail, and much of the head skeleton (although collapsed), was recovered. There may be more, but winter's icy fingers are freezing the ground, and it will be another year before they will be able to research the site. In the mean time, the Svobodas will continue their perennial vigil on the banks of Lake Francis Case, searching the shores for booty left behind by fishermen and ancient treasures that may help unlock the secrets of our planet. |
| Creator | Gregory Times Advocate |
| Subject | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Museum of Geology; |
| Local Subject | Whitmore, Janet
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
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| Description | Newspaper clippings from the Gregory Times Advocate, relating to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology |
| Digital Publisher | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Devereaux Library
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| Date | 1992-11-19 |
| Type | Text; Image |
| Format | image/jp2 |
| Source | Gregory Times Advocate |
| Language | eng |
| Relation | Is part of UPR clipping file. |
| Coverage | Gregory Times Advocate |
| Rights | Copyright 1992, Gregory Times Advocate. The original work may be protected by U. S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder if the use is fair use or within another legal exemption. The user of this work is responsible for compliance with the law. |
| Submitting Institution | Devereaux Library. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. |
| Note | Courtesy of Gregory Times Advocate |
| Date Digital | 2009 |
| Rights holder | Gregory Times Advocate
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| CONTENTdm number | 824 |
| CONTENTdm file name | 825.jp2 |
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