1. How can you tell how much a dinosaur weighed if you only have the bones?
   
   Answer:
   This is a very good question. It requires knowing something about living animals and making some analogies. When we discovered Jobaria, a long-necked plant eating dinosaur in the sauropod sauropod family, we compared to another large, four-legged, plant eating animal - an elephant. You can make a small flesh model of the dinosaur, calculate the volume, and then calculate how much that volume of flesh would weigh (flesh has a very similar weight as water) in a living animal. Then you have to multiply up to the size of the dinosaur you want to estimate. For example, your measurements might suggest that a sauropod might weight four times as much as an elephant.
   
   
2. Can the plaster damage the bones? How do you treat them so it won't?
   
   Answer:
   Plaster is difficult to remove from bones and so we try not to get plaster directly on the bones. Once a bone is partially excavated and ready for a jacket, we cover any exposed bone with a "separator" - something that will separate the bones from direct contact with the plaster and burlap. We usually use moist paper towel or tin foil.
   
   
3. Has there ever been any dinosaur fossils found under the ocean?
   
   Answer:
   Some dinosaur skeletons have been found in ocean rocks that are now exposed on land. Usually it takes so much walking and searching to find a dinosaur bone that it isn't worth it to try and do this underwater. Another thing to keep in mind is that most of the land rocks that would have dinosaur bone preserved in them are still exposed on dry land - you don't really need to work under the ocean.
   
   
4. Can a government take back a dinosaur if it's found in that country?
   
   Answer:
   A country can under international law "repatriate" (take back) fossils or artifacts. Today, most bones are usually returned to the country they are discovered as part of cooperative agreements. Part of our cooperation with Niger includes the understanding that the bones we find will be returned to the National Museum in Niamey once we have cleaned and studied them in our lab at the University of Chicago. In some cases we have found multiple skeletons of the same species, and in the future we may make an agreement to keep some of these fossils as a study collection at the University of Chicago.
   
   
5. Why don't museums display the real bones? What is your opinion of why the dinosaurs are extinct and do you have any new support to back that up?
   
   Answer:
   Many museums do display real bones. Some are in display cases and some - like large bones or skulls - are outside display cases. Some mounted skeletons of dinosaurs are made of original fossils as well. Today, however, it is more common that mounted skeletons are composed of "casts" of the real bones. There are two reasons for this: firstly, fossils are fragile and are often damaged in the process of mounting the skeleton. Secondly, the bones are very heavy and the skeleton requires extra metal support and this can detract from its appearance.
   
   What is your opinion of why the dinosaurs are extinct and do you have any new support to back that up?
   
   Answer:
   The evidence is not very strong that an asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago and caused many extinctions, including the many of the dinosaurs. Another factor may have been climate change. Just at the same time there was a sudden drop in sea level, that exposed many land surfaces formerly covered by water. The climate on land changed dramatically and this may also have contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs.

Thomas Tucker's 5th Grade Science Class
Apollo Elementary, Aledo, IL

1. What kind of notes do you take while you are digging out a fossil? What kind of information is important to keep track of during this process?
   
   Answer:
   Three basic things: locality information, configuration of the bones, nature of the surrounding sediment. You need to note where you found the bones. We use a latitude and longitude (every spot on the globe has a particular latitude and longitude - lines drawn on the globe). You need to map and number the bones so you have some record of what bone was next to what other bone and where you can find a particular bone. And you need some notes on the surrounding rock so that you know the environment that the dinosaur was in at the time it died (for example, a river).
   
   
2. When you are digging out fossil bones, what is your "worst nightmare?"
   
   Answer:
   The worst thing is that you break irreparably some delicate bones, or leave important bones behind. Once while excavating Jobaria we were four feet down in the ground and the rock was very hard. We only had time to dig a foot beyond the last bone and there was just a shadow of a doubt that we might have left something in the ground. We ran out of time and couldn't pursue the site further. Our hand were sore from pounding on the rock. We think we got the last bone of the tail, but we are not absolutely sure.
   
   
3. What do you do when you know there are fossils is a certain area and you can't find the money to fund an expedition?
   
   Answer:
   You work harder to find the money. Sometimes it can take years. It took us four years (from 1993 to 1997) to return to the mass graveyard that preserved multiple Jobaria skeletons. In some cases you can ask people in the area to keep an eye on the site and protect it for you from fossil pillagers or tourists to help ensure the site is still there when you get back.
   
   
4. Dinosaur bones seem to be more and more valuable. (Sue the T. rex at the Natural History Museum in Chicago) Are there any problems with people there stealing the bones in order to sell them and make money?
   
   Answer:
   Dinosaur bones have always been valuable - but its difficult for scientists to think in terms of dollars for something that is irreplaceable, and sometimes unique. Yes, there are some problems with this. It is a common problem in the United States. It is something that we are trying to prevent from happening in the areas we are currently working in Niger. They now have a law that is stronger than our own laws in the United States. It is illegal to sell any fossils from Niger.
   
   
5. In some places where fossils are found the climate is very different now than when the animals died. Do you think global warming is real and could it cause big changes for us here in the Midwest like the changes that have happened in the fossil record?
   
   Answer:
   Yes. Global warming will have an effect far beyond the shores of our continent, which will experience a rise in sea level from melting ice. Some areas will receive more rain, some less. It could cause big environmental change and extinctions beyond those already being caused by human activities. I am sure that we will be affected - even in the Midwest.
   

Sue Kouri's 4th and 5th Grade Gifted Classes
Highlands School
Naperville, IL

1. What is your favorite childhood book? Did it teach you any lessons you use when fossil hunting?
   
   Answer:
   I loved Tom Sawyer and I loved the idea of going down the big river, and traveling to exotic cities and far away places. You need to have a spirit of adventure and a love of discovery. I think that Tom also used a map when looking for buried treasure (?), and I use maps all the time. -Paul
   
   I loved Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin when I was a kid - mostly because my dad used to read them to me and my brother when I was little and I remember very clearly the episode when Christopher Robin and Pooh go on an expedition - which, I think, they spelled "expedishun" - and I remember thinking how cool it would be to go on an adventure like an expedition. -Gabe
   
   
2. What do you miss the most when you're in the field? What do you do to cure that yearning? Or does the work keep your mind off your home?
   
   Answer:
   I miss a lot of things, like special people, the comforts of home, and my favorite foods. However, the adventure, excitement, pressure and general activity level of an expedition keep my mind far from all of that. We are in the middle of a great expedition - I wish I had a little more time here in the beautiful desert.
   
   The only thing I miss is listening to the radio. I get most of my news (and music) from Public Radio. I do have a shortwave radio and at night we can pick up English language stations, but mostly I am too tired to listen for very long. I don't miss TV because I don't watch it that much. I do, however, look forward to watching all of the X-Files episodes I missed. -Gabe
   
   
3. When you get home, what is the first thing you will do?
   
   Answer:
   The first thing I'll do when I get home to Canada is eat goronzola marscapone cheese and a two pound lobster cooked in brine with fresh dill - Hans
   
   Go with my friend RMS to Burger King and get a whopper. Then I will go to Morry's and eat a double hot dog and drink a gallon Dr. Pepper. That night I will go to eat pesto pizza at Giordano's and drink more Dr. Pepper.- Jack
   
   I'm turning off all the phones - E. Love
   
   I will get home just in time for Christmas and I will see my relatives. Then I have to go apartment hunting in Washington DC because I have a new job at the Smithsonian. -Chris
   
   Take a long, hot, bath and shave. Then I'll find something to eat with some friends - Tim
   
   Call my parents and tell them I'm safe at home because they always worry. Then I'll have a big glass of orange juice. Then it's food and sleep. The thing I'm most excited about is taking my 8000 digital pictures and sorting them and printing them out from my computer at home. - Mike
   
   I will head straight for Flip's on Roosevelt road and have cheese fries and an Italian beef with a large RC. - Dave
   
   First thing I am going to go on a long run on the Chicago lakefront. Then I will go with someone special to my favorite restaurant on Sheffield and Clark. - Allison
   
   First Paul and I will probably take Dino Dog for a walk in his new home after his trans-Atlantic flight. Then we'll call our families and make a beeline to our favorite Chinese restaurant (Hong Min) where Paul will put extra chili sauce on everything and I will eat a whole order of pot stickers all by myself. -Gabe
   
   You bet! And I will eat a candy bar (they melt in the desert, so we really can't bring them. -Paul
   
   
4. How would you be able to accurately determine how a dinosaur died if you even can?
   
   Answer:
   
   Most of the time you can't determine how a dinosaur died, because the illness, the attack by a predator, or the other common any other reasons for death (e.g., drowning) leave no marks on the bones. Sometimes we find injuries that have healed, and sometimes we find teeth marks on the bones, but these don't tell us why the animal died. At first you might think that tooth marks would tell us for sure that a predator ate a dinosaur; but was the dinosaur dead first before being eaten? We are very happy to find their skeletons without knowing how they died! We often know a lot more about how they got buried.
   
   
5. How much garbage does the team produce each day on average? What do you do with your garbage?
   
   Answer:
   Actually our team of 14 produces less garbage than you might think because we recycle quite a bit. Packages - cardboard boxes, oatmeal containers, powdered juice containers, dehydrated meat and coffee cans - all are great for packing fossils in. We even save the plastic bags some of our dehydrated food comes in for packaging. We separate out batteries, glass and metal and usually give these to people who can use them. Leftover food we bury and everything else we burn. At some of our camps we "pack-out" our trash and bring it back to Agadez and contribute it to the town dump.
   
   
6. What other types of fossils do you find besides dinosaurs? What suggestions would you give if I wanted to find fossils in my own town? Do you think it would be possible to find any?
   
   Answer:
   The only fossils you can find in Naperville are Ice Age fossils (not even a million years old). You have to first find out if there are any rocks exposed or if they are all covered by soil. Next, you need to find out how old the rocks are in your area, and if any fossils have been recorded. In Naperville, we are on the banks of the DuPage river, and these river deposits cover almost all the nearby rocks, so the only thing you might be able to find are ice age fossils in the overlying soils. What I did when I went fossil hunting as a kid was to go to a quarry and I went to Braidwood Coal mine. Both of these places are closed now, but occasionally the Illinois Geological Survey leads family fossil finding trips that kids can take part in.
   
   
7. Parent Question: Has there ever been anything you forgot and had to go back for?
   
   Answer:
   No. Going back is not really an option once we leave the states. In some cases if we forget something, or something breaks (like computer equipment for our website project) we might be able to have a visitor bring it in for us. -Gabe
   
   What was your funniest meal?
   
   Answer:
   Our "funnest" meal is unquestionably Chris Sidor's Mac and Cheese. We have two "funny meals." One time, in 1997, we were given a gazelle to cook for dinner. The gift just happened to correspond with Thanksgiving and we had roasted gazelle with rehydrated corn, cranberry sauce (made from dried cranberries), and vanilla pudding in a four-pound can for dessert. -Gabe
   
   Have you ever been stuck in horrible sand storms while you were digging?
   
   Answer:
   Suchomimus, the crocodile mimic, was excavated almost entirely during a week-long sandstorm. We had to put the trucks around the site to block the wind and we put canvas bags over our heads, cut holes for eyes, and put goggles over them. At night the wind was so strong some people slept inside trucks because their tents had been torn apart. -Gabe