Tickled pink

Fluffy has some amazing adventures, and sometimes I get to join him.  In December of 2010, Fluffy and I headed north to Seymour, Texas with the volunteer dig team from the Houston Museum of Natural Science to do a little more work on Willi, the dimetrodon. 

My job was to remove layers of rock and dirt from the "wall" behind Willi.  We were hoping to find the rest of his skeleton buried under the layers that had settled over him since his death (around 280 million years ago). 

As is often the case when your job is simply to move a lot of dirt in a hurry, I found something interesting.  I was hacking through a particularly tough layer of rock when I heard a different kind of crunch--and noticed a circular shape . . . the kind indicative of the bone around a Permian amphibian's upward facing eye socket.  I had found a skull!

Uh, oh.  Time to work more slowly and carefully! 

You'll notice that the bone doesn't look much different from the surrounding matrix.  When we returned over Spring Break of 2011, I turned the prep work over to Kathy Zoehfeld, who is more experienced and more nimble with the paleo needle than I.  While Dr. Bakker scoffed at its name (Fluffster 15, in honor of Fluffy and our classroom--Room 15), he got excited when he took a look.  It is the skull of a juvenile Eryops, an amphibian that looked something like a short squatty alligator. 

adult Eryops on display at HMNS

skull with arrow pointing to eye socket

Notice the dimpled texture of the bone? This indicates it is amphibian skull. The skin was probably closely attached to the skull, making it difficult for predators to get a toothy grip for a bite.

As Kathy worked, carefully removing the surrounding rock, we got even more excited.  There was more than just the skull--at least one front leg.

A trench was dug around the area of the skeleton and covered with foil and then layers of plaster-dipped burlap to make a plaster jacket.  Then the whole pedestal was undercut and rolled over so that the bottom could be coated in plaster as well.  Finally, Fluffster15 was taken back to the lab for more detailed prep work. 

In September (2011), I received this message:

Fluffster, of course, had that one leg pressed against the east side of his skull -- now Bob's discovered a second leg, tucked under his skull. Fluff is going to be a real cutie!  

I also learned of plans to include Fluffster in the new paleontology hall at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Wowee! 

Fluffster is still in the lab, getting beautiful in preparation for its big debut.  Last week, I received the following update:

Wow! We're cleaning the down side--found perfect right thigh, and lower jaw, and left humerus, and some flat bones that are probably shoulder.



Exciting!