Join CCM for National Fossil Day activities

Visit Carter County Museum on Wednesday, October 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and help celebrate National Fossil Day! Stew Cook and Claire Jorgensen will be running kids' activities, including "Pellets and Poops: Uncovering the past from the other end."

Paleontologists study past life through the remains of dead organisms, usually fossils like bones and footprints are used to do this, but other kinds of remains are also studied to understand extinct creatures, like poop! These not so glamorous artifacts, called coprolites, are often used in research to better understand diets and food webs of ecosystems. Like any other fossil, coprolites, and pellets, if buried, can be preserved for millions of years. If found by a paleontologist, they can be dissected to determine what animal produced them and what they were eating! Often paleontologists can determine what is inside a coprolite by cutting thin sections of coprolites, called cross-sections. But with new technology like X-rays and CT scanners, scientists can look inside a coprolite and see what's inside without even touching it!

Participants of all ages can join staff for this free, fun activity on October 13.

National Fossil Day is an annual celebration held to highlight the scientific and educational value of paleontology and the importance of preserving fossils for future generations. The 2021 National Fossil Day Logo is inspired by the diverse record of Late Cretaceous dinosaur footprints from Denali National Park and Preserve in central Alaska. The logo features an Alaskan tyrannosaur walking under a northern polar night sky, through a mudflat, and encountering a trackway left by a hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur). In the distance, an ancient boreal forest outlines the Cretaceous landscape. The Late Cretaceous (100 to 66 million years ago) represents the end of the Mesozoic Era and the height of dinosaur diversity. At the end of the Cretaceous a massive extinction event occurred that claimed all non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, large marine reptiles, several groups of early birds, a few families of fish, and several groups of mollusks such as ammonites. The extinction event also marked the beginning of the Cenozoic Era and the great diversification of mammals.

There will also be a new baby T. rex on display in the Lambert Dinosaur Hall. Known as "Elby" this juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was sculpted by Inhuman Species Digital Workshop and 3D printed at Carter County Museum. Although a fully preserved T. rex juvenile has never been found, we can infer from other specimens to make models like these. Elby represents a two year old T. rex and is based on fossil specimens known as "Chomper" and "Trix" from Montana.

All events are free and open to all ages. Please email scook@cartercountymuseum.org with any questions.