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Re: Where would you hunt?

Yep, that talk about Sudan was quite promising.
On training preparators: to this day, it happens a lot that small vertebrates in laminated rocks (shales, plated limestones) are _split through the bone_ and then described that way, which often means that the paper describes the dorsal side of the skull roof in ventral view and the ventral side of the skull roof in dorsal view. In Messel and Las Hoyas, and in at least some cases of museum specimens from China, people have AFAIK stopped splitting bulged plates to see what's inside, and when it still happens they _glue the plates back together_ and then prepare the fossil from the _outside_. Apparently, this obvious-seeming method still hasn't reached other places: a potentially very interesting but very frustrating lepospondyl from Scotland was described inside-out a few weeks ago. 

Anyway. Rescued from truncation:


Delurking for a moment..

Picked over, ummm, not yet!  The Hell Creek/Lance on the border of =
Wyoming/Montana that I live on has never been looked by anyone but me =
and just a few others because the geologic maps are way wrong here.  I =
know where 5 partial (as all dinos are partial to one degree or another) =
animals are lying but no one wants to work on just o'plain o' Hell Creek =
Lance.  A definite Tric which I've been digging on for years, a possible =
Pachy (got squamosals and a partial femur and haven't disturbed the 20 =
foot long surface site since I couldn't possibly work it alone), a =
hadrosaurian possibility with lot's o' tendon and bone frags on surface, =
another Tric just off my place on an adjacent ranch, and I know of an =
in-situ inflated rib cage (big but don't know who though because the =
backbone is an a concretion) diving into the outcrop on a private ranch =
south of here.  (got photos)=20

No badlands here though so just not appealing to the early researchers.  =
My commute isn't very far so I just keep my eye open and over the decade =
I've lived here, things seem to keep popping out.  I find vertebra on =
grassy hillsides and teeth in blowouts plus there are microsites galore =
spread about.  My current count is 25 active microsites that have =
produced many thousands of fossils (several world class locations) =
including what must be one of the finest Upper Cretaceous mammal =
collection of over 200 pieces including about a dozen denticulate jaws =
from one general geographic locality in the country now residing at the =
Denver Museum of Natural Science.  Greg Wilson has been involved with =
those.

If I didn't have to make a living, I'd be digging full time.  No takers =
yet by academics or museum crews which would be the only folks I would =
allow on ranch for the bone sites.   I even helped a 10 year old on a =
ranch about 10 miles from here excavate a pretty complete hadrosaur leg =
this summer.  There are fossils all over this country but good luck =
getting onto private land without proper introductions because you'll =
get the "Your not from around here are ya?" response.  We live 14 miles =
from the nearest asphalt road and 65 miles from the nearest stop light.  =
Not Mongolia but a way's into the backcountry with isolated ranch =
families on 20,000 acre ranches.  It should be a little cheaper running =
an trip here than the previously mentioned sites overseas though.  Heck, =
we even happen to run a bed and breakfast that could house the crew in =
comfort unless you WANT to camp out.  A million bucks will go a long =
ways up here!  Bring it on.

See www.wyomingdinosaurs.com

frank bliss
MS Biostratigraphy
frank@wyomingdinosaurs.com
Weston, Wyoming