FLMNH Fossil Adventures

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18th Annual Thomas Farm Dig - Spring 2009
Hummingbird Challenge V

March 31 - April 5, 2009

Please join Dave Steadman and other Museum scientists for our 18th annual fossil dig at Thomas Farm (about 45 miles NW of Gainesville). This very rich fossil site already has produced the remains of more than 60 species of extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

We will excavate 18 million year old fossils of alligators, tortoises, freshwater turtles, three-toed horses, rhinos, camels, deer, and bear-dogs. We also will focus on the small fossils of birds, bats, rodents, frogs, lizards, snakes, etc. that actually far outnumber the large ones.

Dave's research on the birds from Thomas Farm is behind our new focus on the microfauna. The dig is called "The Hummingbird Challenge" for two reasons. The first is that it calls attention to the small species of vertebrates that rarely are recovered (or at least rarely are studied) in pre-Pleistocene deposits. The second is that a fossil hummingbird has been discovered recently in the late Oligocene (30 million years old) of Germany, whereas in the Americas (where hummingbirds are confined today), there is not a single fossil of these tiny, colorful, nectar-feeders before the late Pleistocene (only 15 thousand years old). Finding a hummingbird fossil at Thomas Farm would be a major discovery. Even if hummingbirds elude us, the rich microfauna sample that we generate almost certainly will include new species for the Thomas Farm fauna.