Science Stories

Dig site at Thomas Farm: Participants search for fossils at the Florida Museum of Natural History's 18th Annual Thomas Farm Fossil Dig, which took place this year from March 31 to April 5. The site, located about 45 miles northwest of Gainesville, contains Early Miocene fossils that are about 18 million years old. The remains of nearly 100 species of extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals have been recovered thus far at Thomas Farm. Photo by Jeff Gage.

Sifting for fossils: Participants George Weems and Judy Lundquist, from Lexington, Kentucky, methodically sift through sand and clay from the Thomas Farm site in search of smaller fossils on April 3, 2009. Dig organizer and paleo-ornithologist David Steadman hopes that the site will one day yield North America's first hummingbird fossils from the Miocene epoch. Photo by Jeff Gage.

On the hunt: Alison Thrash, from Conway, South Carolina, carefully checks her one meter by one meter plot for fossils. The fossil site at Thomas Farm, first discovered in 1931, continues to produce a wide range of both large and small species, with no end in sight. Photo by Jeff Gage.

Fossil find: This year's discoveries at the Thomas Farm site include this fossil (an ulna) from the front leg bone of Parahippus, an extinct three-toed horse that lived across much of North America from about 22 to 16 million years ago. Photo by Jeff Gage.

Hitting the mother lode: Florida Museum paleo-ornithologist David Steadman and participant Alison Thrash examine a partial Parahippus lower jaw that Alison found during this year's Thomas Farm dig. Photo by Jeff Gage.

Dirty work: Florida Museum paleo-ornithologist David Steadman shovels muck into buckets to keep a drainage ditch open. Participants at this year's Thomas Farm dig experienced a major rain storm (rare in the Spring) that drenched the site for the first three days. Photo by Mary Warrick.

A closer look: Florida Museum vertebrate paleontologist Jason Bourque inspects fossil finds from the square he was digging at Thomas Farm on April 3, 2009 as part of the 18th annual fossil dig. Photo by Mary Warrick.

Prepared for screening: UF student Lisa Barrow, foreground, and Florida Museum field assistant Erika Simons check the labels in buckets of sediment at the Thomas Farm site on April 3, 2009. The sediment will be water-screened to search for fossils of small amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Photo by Mary Warrick.

Time to eat: Florida Museum event assistant Gwenyth Thompson prepares lunch for hungry fossil diggers at the 18th annual Thomas Farm fossil dig. A grand total of 34 participants took part in this year's dig. Photo by Mary Warrick.

Comparing fossils: Participant Erika Simons compares the cast of a complete Parahippus jawbone that was found at the Thomas Farm site 20 years ago with the partial jawbone of a Parahippus that participant Alison Thrash has just discovered. Photo by Jeff Gage.