Natural History Collector: Hunt, Discover, Learn! by Michael Sanchez

Author:Michael Sanchez
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rockport Publishers
Published: 2018-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

SUPPLIES FOR COLLECTORS

Fossil collectors rarely dig for fossils: they keep an eye on surfaces. In deserts, coastal cliffs, caves, quarries, and other places with little ground cover, fossils can often be found on the ground or the surface of rocks. In areas with dense ground cover, road cuts (where a hill or mountain has been cut through to make space for a road) might be the only place anyone can see the inner surfaces of rocks. Here are some things to take along:

▪ A backpack makes carrying fossils much easier.

▪ Newspaper, re-closable plastic bags, or pill bottles to wrap and protect your discoveries.

▪ A rock hammer. These are sometimes called pick hammers and they have a pointed end to the head. If a fossil is in a large rock, you might need to use a hammer to break it free. Never hit the fossil directly with your hammer. It may be rock, but it can still break!

▪ Safety goggles—flying chips can be dangerous!

▪ Gloves—broken rock can have very sharp edges.

▪ Notebook. Keeping a notebook is a great way to record information on your finds. Some pieces of information you might want to keep are:

▪ Where you found your fossil; sometimes that’s a key to identification. Also, if you want to go back to where you found your fossil, your notes will remind you how to get there.

▪ What kind of rock did your fossil come from? Each rock type is a clue to how the organism lived.

▪ How common (or how rare) is it to find this type of fossil in the area where you were collecting?

▪ When did you collect the fossil and who were you with?

▪ Funny or interesting stories you would like to remember about your trip.

Be a Thoughtful Collector

Take time to learn what kinds of fossils you can legally collect and where you can collect them. The website www.gatorgirlrocks.com has loads of information on laws governing collecting. As a rule, on private property, the fossils belong to the people who own the land. Whether or not they allow fossil hunting on their land is up to them. Get permission from landowners if you would like to collect on their property.

Fossil hunting is allowed on some public lands, but not all. On national forest lands, collecting fossils of invertebrates (animals without a backbone) is allowed as long as it is for personal use and in limited amounts. Hunting for vertebrate fossils (animals with a backbone) requires special permits.

National parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas generally do not allow collecting of any type of fossils without a special permit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.