Stones and Bones
By Hugo Pelayo, Junior Paleontologist
This past summer I had the opportunity
to take Dr. Paul Sereno's University of
Chicago “Stones and Bones” summer
course. The first part was taken at the
university. I commuted from my house to
the classroom every day for two weeks.
The second part of the class was certainly
different from the first. For starters,
we left noisy, urban Chicago and traveled
to South Dakota and Wyoming! We arrived
at the ranch in South Dakota not knowing
what to expect. Our facilities were already
set up: tents, a small shack for storage,
and an outhouse – (that would be an
adventure all on its own)! |
Hugo discovers a recent
mammal bone. |
The next morning I rose early to work on the
bone bed and begin excavating! As soon as I reached
the site I began to hammer away at the surface,
carefully watching for bones, teeth, or amber.
My first major find was an amazingly well preserved
caudal vertebra - a dinosaur tailbone. After finding
numerous teeth, ossified tendons, and small bone
fragments I realized I had hit a “bone”
mine.
With every sweep of my brush, I began to expose
more bone. It was time to step back and begin
the mapping! The area was plotted by Dr. Sereno
using stakes to create a frame. In between these
stakes we coiled string to create a grid and record
our findings on a quadrille pad.
The sun was hot. The air was hot. The ground
was hot. Even our tents were hot. We all
looked forward to that thirst quenching
lemonade that was brought to us by the friendly
folks at the ranch. We looked forward with
even more anticipation to the ride into
town, where a pool, showers, and the "Drive-In"
awaited us. It was so different from my
place back home in Chicago. At night I slept
under the warm blanket of stars silently
hovering above. The grandeur of the universe
was revealed to me as I stared at the many
lights and flashes. Every night I went to
sleep awe struck by this stunning event.
Getting on the plane back to Chicago was
certainly a sad moment but at the
same time satisfying. I was proud and glad
I took the course. It certainly was one
of the most exciting things I have done.
I am looking forward to continuing this
adventure in the future. This expedition
was one of my first but I hope it will not
be the last. I would like to thank Project Exploration and its benefactors. |
Hugo searches for
microfossils
in Wyoming. |
NOTE: Hugo Pelayo is a
senior at Jones High School in Chicago and has
worked with Project Exploration for two years.
This past summer Hugo was accepted into the University
of Chicago summer paleo field course and earned
college credit. Project Exploration supported
Hugo’s tuition fees and field gear. |
