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October 14, 2000
The team of
the 2000 Expedition to Niger pauses for
a photo atop the outcrop at Camp 2. Orange
barkhan dunes stretch out behind them. (from
top left) Rudd Sadier, Allison Beck, Greg
Wilson, Dave Blackburn, Eric Duneman, Jack
Conrad, (bottom left) Chris Sidor, Alhassane
Dindine (Bido), Gabrielle Lyon, Paul Sereno,
Tim Lyman,. Hans Larsson
(Missing: photographer Mike Hettwer and
Didier Dutheil)
October 14, 2000
10:51pm
LAST DAY AT CAMP II
Other than the animals
discovered and described by French paleontologists
more than two decades ago, we had very little
idea how rich, or poor, in fossils the area
around Camp 2 would be. Here, at Camp 2,
the outcrop rose in relief, transmogrified
into a high broken cliff line - and then
faded again until we were prospecting amongst
dunes.
Each of the four days
we prospected Camp 2 localities we covered
an enormous amount of territory - as much
as 10 kilometers a day on foot - and confirmed
the outcrop holds many fossil treasures.
Overall, even though
the rocks are the same age as those at Camp
1, the finds were more dispersed. Sometimes
we could walk all day and not find one complete
fossil bone.
On our last day, we
pushed nearly 30 kilometers north, skirting
the barkhans as we drove. The coarse sandstone
cliff-line flattened and finally we found
ourselves prospecting amongst dunes where,
as far as we know, no one has ever formally
searched for fossils.But the hard work of
four intense days of prospecting paid off-and
we made several key finds, including:
- The most complete
jaw so far of the new, large predator
(found by Eric on the top of a cliff).
- Several skulls
and skeletons of new small crocodiles.
(Jack picked up an entire skull with lower
jaws only three inches long of one of
these new animals). The small crocodiles,
which would have measured less than three
feet in length as adults, would have lived
alongside their giant cousin, Sarcosuchus.
- Complete skulls
and body armor of the largest
of crocodiles, Sarcosuchus.
Finds at Camp
2 included new species of small crocodiles.
Jack picked up an entire skull with lower
jaws only three inches long.
One of the biggest surprises
of our brief sojourn in the north was the
discovery of a major archaeological site.
The site includes many fossil humans that
date back possibly several thousand years.
To our amazement we found stone and bone
tools everywhere. Even beaded jewelry was
still intact. It seems as if the site has
never been touched. Surrounding the fossil
human remains were remains of the animals
that lived alongside them. We found fossil
fish, turtles, crocodiles, snakes and domesticated
cows and goats.
One of the highlights
of Camp 2 was the discovery of the most
complete jaw so far of the new, large predator.
Here, Paul brushes away 110-million year
old rock while a herd of camels passes by
on the horizon.
We are looking forward
to learning more about the significance
of this site when we return with some of
our Nigerienne archaeologist colleagues
from IRSH, Institute for Research on Human
Science in a few weeks.
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