October 2:
Linda Lindstrom's Fourth Grade Class
Prairie
School
Naperville, IL
-
How do you secure
your tents in the sand so they do
not blow over in high winds and sandstorms?
Answer:
You have to use really big tent
stakes and be sure to use lots of
them. Many people have problem with
sand getting in the zippers - not
to mention everything else. When people
from the American Embassy came to
visit us one of their tents blew away
- and it wasn't even a particularly
windy day. Someone found it 15 kilometers
- 10 miles - away. - Paul Sereno
-
What are your next
plans for an expedition and what do
you hope to find there?
Answer:
The next expedition will be in India.
It is a short expedition - about a
month - but we hope to find Cretaceous
age dinosaurs. - Paul Sereno
-
Are you bringing Dino
back with you to the USA?
Answer:
Dino has made a great comeback after
a very rough experience. He is filling
out nicely - and now knows commands
in Hausa, French and English. Other
than stealing people's socks in the
morning he's great to have around
and loves to play. We found out that
it may not be to difficult to bring
him back, but we don't think life
in the city would be good for Dino
so we are hoping Gabe's dad will adopt
him so that Dino could live on a farm.
(But we haven't told Gabe's dad yet.)
- Paul Sereno
-
What convenience do
you miss the most?
Answer:
Good coffee and a candy bar. -
Paul Sereno
- What is the most challenging aspect
of this expedition in comparison to
other expeditions?
Answer:
Keeping on schedule when all sorts of
unexpected things have happened- moving
camp more times than we've ever moved
camp before -four times is a lot of
times. Covering an enormous amount of
territory - more than ever before. -
Paul Sereno
Donna Goode's 4th
Grade Class
Solomon
School
- What is the most rewarding thing about
being a paleontologist? The most difficult?
Answer:
The Rewards:
Getting to do what I love best all the
time - Rudyard Sadlier
Not having a boss - Hans Larsson
Not having to wear a tie and getting
to be dirty - Dave Blackburn
Getting to travel - Greg Wilson
Digging up bones - Jack Conrad
Discovering new things, being creative
and traveling - Paul Sereno
The Difficulties:
Digging up bones - Jack Conrad
Working in desert conditions - Chris
Sidor Explaining what I do and how it
helps people - Hans Larsson
Getting a job after all of the training
- Rudyard Sadlier
Managing to do everything - run expeditions,
write, teach, make public presentations
- in such a short period of time. -
Paul
- How old do you think the new little
dinosaur Chris found is, and are you
bringing it home?
Answer:
The dinosaur is 110 million years old
- as are the other fossils we have found
so far on this expedition - because
they are all being found in the same
formation. We are definitely bringing
it home. We just loaded the jacket on
to a truck. It weighed 300 pounds!
- What is the largest fossil or bone
you have found so far on this trip,
and what did it belong to? How old is
it?
Answer:
The largest single bone we have found
so far is the Oranosaurus femur (you
might be able to find a picture of it
on the website). Just this one bone
is about four feet long and weighs about
200 pounds. Like the other fossils we've
found while working out of Camp 1, the
femur (thigh bone) is 110 million years
old.
- How many fossils and bones have you
found so far?
Answer:
We have collected hundreds of bones.
Our official collection list has almost
400 entries, but some of those entries
represent many bones. After spending
a day loading all of our jackets onto
a truck, we estimate that we have excavated
15 tons of fossils so far.
- Did you have any luck finding the
skull, or do you think you will?
Answer:
We did not find any parts of the skull,
but there may a chance we collected
some without knowing it. It might be
hidden in the rock that we excavated
or it might have weathered away. We
won't know until we clean the rock off
the skeleton.
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