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Finding Fossils

Learn a little more...with a link!

Website: PBS LearningMedia, Eons, The Trouble With Trilobites | Why are trilobites so famous? They’re everywhere!

Website Article: DK findout! Fossils | How, what & where of these ancient remains.

Website: American Museum of Natural History, Ology, What is Paleontology? | Fascinating science of the study of ancient life from microbes to dinosaurs.

Read the script:

[REID] AN ICE AGE ANIMAL HAS BEEN UNEARTHED IN A UTAH FAMILY'S BACKYARD. TAKE A LOOK, THAT'S A RARE SKELETON OF AN ANCIENT HORSE. THE FAMILY WAS WORKING ON A LANDSCAPING PROJECT WHEN THEY STRUCK GOLD.

- WE STARTED TAKING AWAY WITH OUR FINGERS AND SAW RIBS.

[REID] PALEONTOLOGISTS BELIEVE IT'S SOME TYPE OF ANCIENT SHETLAND PONY BUT DON'T KNOW HOW IT GOT THERE.

- WELL, OF COURSE IT'S FROM THE ICE AGE, AND PROBABLY ABOUT 16,000 YEARS OLD.

[REID] ONLY THE HEAD IS MISSING AND EXPERTS SAY THE HORSE WAS COVERED QUICKLY BECAUSE ITS BONES ARE PERFECTLY INTACT. NOW IT'S A PIECE OF ANCIENT HISTORY FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY.

[RICK] THANKS REID. IT MIGHT NOT EVEN TAKE A LOT OF DIGGING TO STUMBLE ACROSS AWESOME ARTIFACTS. AN 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL MADE HER OWN AMAZING DISCOVERY, THIS ONE'S IN TENNESSEE. AMANDA KETCHLEDGE REPORTS.

[RYLEIGH] TO FIND SOMETHING REALLY, REALLY COOL THAT'S 475 MILLION PLUS YEARS OLD.

[AMANDA] A FOSSIL DATING BACK TO THE PALEOZOIC ERA, DISCOVERED BY 11- YEAR-OLD, RYLEIGH TAYLOR, AS SHE WAS WALKING ALONG THE BANKS OF DOUGLAS LAKE IN DANDRIDGE.

[RYLEIGH] I LOOKED DOWN WHILE I WAS WALKING, I JUST SAW IT.

[AMANDA] TO GET CONFIRMATION, HER FAMILY REACHED OUT TO COLIN SUMRALL, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PALEOBIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE.

[COLIN] IT'S ACTUALLY FAIRLY UNUSUAL FOR SOMEONE TO FIND A FOSSIL.

[AMANDA] SUMRALL SAYS RYLEIGH FOUND A TRILOBITE, AN EXTINCT MARINE ARTHROPOD, THAT LIVED IN WATER AROUND EAST TENNESSEE MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO.

[COLIN] TYPICALLY WHEN WE LOOK AT FOSSILS OF TRILOBITES, THEY MOLT WHEN THEY GROW. SO WHAT HAPPENS IS, THE TRILOBITE SKELETON JUST CRUMBLES INTO HUNDREDS OF LITTLE TINY PIECES. TO FIND ONE WHERE ALL THE PIECES ARE STILL INTACT, IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY LUCKY FIND.

[AMANDA] THE LUCKY FIND IS SOMETHING RYLEIGH'S PARENTS COULDN'T BELIEVE AT FIRST.

[RYLEIGH’S MOM] I'M SURPRISED THAT IT WAS RIGHT ON TOP OF THAT ROCK, I MEAN, WHERE ANYBODY COULD HAVE FOUND IT. BUT I'M VERY PROUD OF HER.

[AMANDA] RYLEIGH HOPES OTHER CHILDREN WILL GET OUT AND ENJOY NATURE, SO THEY CAN SEE WHAT THEY CAN FIND.

[RYLEIGH] I CAN SHOW KIDS THAT ARE MY AGE THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO SIT INSIDE AND PLAY ON THEIR GAMES, THEY CAN ACTUALLY GO OUTSIDE.

[COLIN] AND TO FIND SOMETHING LIKE THAT COULD SPARK THIS YOUNGSTER INTO A WHOLE CAREER. MAYBE SHE'LL BECOME A GREAT PALEONTOLOGIST SOME DAY.

[AMANDA] THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR RYLEIGH, FOR NOW, SHE'S JUST HAPPY TO CONTINUE EXPLORING.