December 1, 2000
A Titanic Finale

11/18
Sauropod Site, C-19
4:38pm

Hard at work on the sauropod skeleton, and with one thigh bone
ready to go, at this point in the excavation the team
still has no idea how much has yet to be uncovered.
Photo by Gabrielle Lyon

We headed for Camp 4 ten days ago hoping for one last good discovery. "Icing on the cake," Paul called it. We didn't expect to come up with an entirely new cake.

When we arrived at Camp 4 ten days ago, very few creatures were known from this time horizon. The rocks are Cenomanian in age, about 90 million years old. The dinosaurs from this time on Africa were all named from sites in other countries -Egypt and Morocco-where their teeth and bones were dug up more than 50 years ago. The best known of these are three theropods, or meat eaters, Carcharodontosaurus, Deltadromeus and the sail-backed fish eater Spinosaurus. In Morocco in 1995 we found a nearly complete skull of Carcharodontosaurus, Africa's answer to T. rex, and a skeleton of the fleet-footed Deltadromeus.

Much less is known about the plant eaters from this world. Some sauropod vertebrae from Egypt were named Aegyptosaurus. Other sauropod vertebrae were discovered in Morocco by the French paleontologist Albert de Lapparent and named Rebbachisaurus. More than 50 years ago, Lapparent visited the region we planned to explore at Camp 4 but he found only teeth and a few isolated bones.

On Day 1 we doubled the number of dinosaurs known from this time horizon.

Within hours of setting foot on the outcrop, we had discovered a new predator and two sauropods, along with a new species of crocodile. The next day's search brought to light a new small theropod and a new huge turtle to an already long list of specimens in need of collection. Within 48 hours we had found so much we had to stop looking.

The discoveries began when Allison spotted a pair of partially exposed broad plate-shaped hipbones, each a foot wide. Hardly had the rest of the team gathered in the center of the flat, red plain for a look at what Allison had found, when the shouts began.

Laying on the desert floor like it was left there yesterday, the discovery of this 90-million-year old jaw of a predatory dinosaur adds an important new species to Africa's growing dinosaur fauna.

Hans led us to his first discovery in the area-a predator's skull lying on its side, its upper jaw studded with shiny black teeth. The exposed bone and the shape of the teeth told us quickly that we had a new predator on our hands different from the huge meat eater Carcharodontosaurus or the strange fish eater Spinosaurus. We poured over the skull in excitement.

"There's vertebrae and ribs over there!" called Jack. Meanwhile, Chris was running to tell us he had spotted a good part of a skeleton of a plant eater different from the one Allison had found.

In less than one hour, we had four new species at hand, all within a short walk of each other.

Allison and Hans talk about crocodile evolution, after trenching around the complete skull of a new 90-million-year old crocodile.

When we made a map of the discoveries we had made in the area, all of the sites lay along a north-south line less than one mile long..

Now, a behemoth grows beneath us. The last discovery of the season is a new sauropod, a long-necked plant eater.

The paper-thin edges of the curved series of vertebrae Paul spotted gave no hint of the carcass lying below the surface. As we proceeded with dental picks, brushes and glue, fragile bones of a spine and neck emerged. A femur, pelvic bone, forelimb, ribs followed. The neck continues to continue - with vertebra 75 centimeters long. Ironically, each new bone, for us, adds to our dilemma. We have only five bags of plaster - and we have only a few days left of the field season. How can we collect our last great discovery with so little material and time?

Work at the site was often interrupted by curious passersby, like this nomadic Touareg boy. Many of them were treated by
Doctor Tim during their visit. Photo by Gabrielle Lyon

Each of the last four days have been spent in deliberation. Do we collect or not collect? Will we have enough plaster (maybe, if we leave the jackets open on one side for now)? Is there plaster in Agadez that we could buy (No.) Is there plaster in Niamey that we could buy and bring to Agadez (maybe). Is there a good plaster substitute? (No.) Do we collect everything or just specific parts?

The skeleton is more complete that we could have imagined. It will be fierce work to collect this sauropod.

At the site, Paul faces another dilemma. Every additional day at the site is a day less for prospecting all of the as-yet-unseen areas. The planned prospecting trips in the region have gotten shorter and shorter as the sauropod site has grown bigger and bigger. The team, meanwhile, is in great spirits despite the extremely heavy workload. Talk in the pit swings, as it has done all season, from movies to music back to movies back to music.

Excavation requires a controlled combination of strength
and attention to detail. Hans, encircled by neck bones,
works around one of the fragile vertebrae of the new sauropod.
Photo by Gabrielle Lyon

Daily, now, we dig. The trench encircling the neck is 3-feet deep - a veritable moat. Again and again we move the growing rubble pile, thousands of pounds of rock and earth, in an effort to follow the skeleton into the ground.