The Alf Museum

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News from the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools

Searching the Past, Planning for the Future

by Andy Farke, Ph.D. Augustyn Family Curator and Director of Research & Collections, Alf Museum

“How do you know where to look for fossils?” That’s probably one of the most common questions I get as a paleontologist, and it was at the front of my thoughts during the spring of 2017. I needed to locate some new fossil fields, as destinations for summer peccary trips, projects for Webb students, and for my own scientific interests. But, it was a bit scary to step off the beaten path and press into the unknown.

The Alf Museum’s summer peccary trips are a tradition going back over 80 years. They have been a transformational experience for generations of Webb students, in multiple ways. There is the challenge of being part of a team, pulling together towards a common goal. There is also the quest for self-discovery, learning what you are capable of under sometimes harsh conditions. There is the beauty of the outdoors. And, perhaps most central of all, there is the thrill of discovery.

For nearly 20 years, a major centerpiece of summer peccary trips was a stop in Grand Staircase-Escalante National 0onument, 6outhern 8tah. :ebb students, museum staff, and volunteers have made countless amazing discoveries there, including nearly complete 75 million year old skeletons, new species of dinosaurs, and so much more. Yet this is also a diôcult place to take students. As the field program progressed, we had to push farther and farther from the road to find new fossil sitesÆsometimes up to a twohour hike each way. And if we found something major, helicopter support was required. Helicopter time is expensive! As we closed out our project in Utah, I began thinking about where we could take the next steps.

)irst and foremost, , wanted to find a place that would have high potential for scientifically significant discoveries of relevance to our research program. This meant finding a place that hadn’t been picked over again and again by paleontologists. , also needed to find an area with rocks that fit my research interestsÆrocks from the Age of 'inosaurs. 2n top of this, it should be a place where we could take students. Although I strongly believe that rigorous hiking can be an important part of fieldwork, , needed a place that would be accessible to students with a range of abilities and experience outdoors. A good hiking area was a must, but I didn’t want to have to hike hours just to get to the fossil beds. Also, the farther the hike, the harder it is to safely escort groups of students back and forth (especially when you throw uncertain weather into the mixÆwhen a thunderstorm rolls in, you may not get much time to retreat!). Logistics also become much more challenging the farther you are from the road, and I was trying to avoid having to use helicopters again! Finally, I wanted a fun and productive experience for everyone involved. Logan Causley WSC’22 cleans off a fossil turtle shell.

6o, , started poring over the published scientific literature, to see which areas had the best potential. I downloaded geological maps, looking for the right ages of rocks from the right kinds of environments that would be likely to preserve dinosaurs. I pulled up Google Earth, using satellite photos to spot good exposures of rock close to roads or m ajor trails. )inally, , did land ownership searchesÆfor a variety of reasons we do most of our field work on public lands, and , wanted to find areas where we would be able to get collecting permits.

, sorted through all of the information, and identified a couple of areas in western Wyoming that looked promising. Now it was time to explore! Thanks to a Perry Award, along with a one semester sabbatical during the fall of 2018, I could get started. I applied for surface prospecting permits through the US Forest Service, downloaded a geology mapping app onto my phone, and booked my road trip through Wyoming.

For nearly 10 days, I explored the byways and back roads of western Wyoming. I took copious notes, planning out future areas for exploration. Unfortunately, my “sure bet” of an area that had yielded a fair number of fossils in the 1960s was a total bust. It was heavily grassed over, with not a bone scrap to be seen. This was a shame, because it was just outside Yellowstone National Park, with a gorgeous view of the Grand Tetons. Swallowing my disappointment, I continued my search. By the end of the trip, , had identified two promising areas on lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management. Unfortunately, I didn’t yet have permits to collect fossils in those particular areas, so I had to be satisfied with just viewing them from the road.

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The 2019 Summer Peccary Trip Group

Back at the museum, I drafted my fossil collecting permit applications and planned out logistics for the summer 2019 peccary trip. I was just a little nervous now. I knew I had rocks of the right ages, with good exposures, and close proximity to roads. But, there was no certainty that we would find scientifically significant fossils.

In July of 2019, we set out for Wyoming with 16 Webb students and four adults. Although I was uncertain about our chances of success, I knew we would have fun along the way. With a new peccary trip destination, there were lots of new sites to see! A highlight was Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah. Despite the dense mosquito clouds in our campground, it was jaw-dropping to see the famous quarry wall where thousands of dinosaur bones are still visible in place. We met the monument paleontologist, and got special insights into this amazing area.

+aving viewed these ÇcaptiveÈ dinosaur bones, we wanted to find some in the wild! Our group set up camp outside Rock Springs, :yoming, for the first round of real fieldwork. The campsite was amazing, with gorgeous views of surrounding rock formations (and the opportunity to catch and cook crawdads from the adjacent waters). We hopped in our vehicles, checked in with the local land managers for some signatures, and started exploring in the Lance Formation, dating back to about 67 million years ago. The first hour was slow, with just some coal beds and fragments of oyster shell. And then...dinosaur bone! We found a little pocket with fossils, including some osteoderms (skin bones) from an armored dinosaur. Over the next day, we found several other sites, including a really nice turtle shell.

Hitting the road again, we meandered through Wyoming, stopping in Thermopolis to enjoy the hot springs and visit the :yoming 'inosaur &enter. Thanks to a :ebb alum who was interning there (Julian Diepenbrock WSC’17), we got an extensive behind the scenes tour of their dig sites, exhibits and research lab.

)inally, we headed for our final destination in :yoming. A series of rock exposures near the town of Cody had, to the best of my knowledge, never been explored in detail by paleontologists. Back in the 1920s, a geologist had mentioned some bone fragments, but the rest of the scientific literature (and my inquiries to area paleontologists) yielded nothing. I knew the rocks were of the right age, around 75 million years oldÆbut would we find fossils"

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The first morning was spent scouring rock exposures. :e found plenty of petrified wood, some modern rabbit bones and a rattlesnake, but no dinosaurs. After a midmorning snack, we hit a new set of rocks. Again, nothing...until , found a tiny bone fragment. &alling our group over to that area, we searched the ground, and within a few minutes the students had found identifiable bones :e had the first diagnostic vertebrate fossils ever found in the 0esaverde )ormation near &ody, :yoming. 1ot only was it a major scientific find, but it boosted our spirits, too.

:ith doubt and uncertainty behind us, we spent the next two days exploring several miles of outcrop. :e discovered multiple fossil localities, including one that might be the first associated dinosaur skeleton from /ate &retaceous rocks in this area of :yoming. ,t was with great reluctance that we left the area, for the final leg of the 3eccary Trip and the return to &alifornia. Back at the museum, we started sorting through our fossil finds. :e had numerous dinosaur bones and teeth, turtle shell pieces, mammal teeth, shark teeth, and much more. This bounty is already providing projects for students in our afterschool museum program and our advanced research class. The students have even identified some species never before known from this time period in :yoming

The journey to this point has been a long oneÆyears of planning, months of preparation, and weeks of searching in the field. 2ur success last summer points the way to some exciting discoveries in the years ahead 1ext step...the 6ummer  3eccary Trip, coming up in -une.

Hiking out to explore rocks for dinosaur bones.

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End of An Era F ourteen years after initial discovery, the Alf Museum wrapped up its fieldwork at the Cripe Site in September. This locality is one of the most important dinosaur-age sites ever worked by the museum, and has been a destination for dozens of Webb students on summer peccary trips.

Artist (Rob Soto) reconstruction of the Cripe Site.

The story began 75 million years ago, in what is now Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in southern Utah. The area was almost tropical, and lay barely a hundred miles from the edge of a warm sea that covered central North America. Animals and plants died and were buried in the backwaters of a river floodplain, amidst a jam of downed trees and leaf debris.

Fast forward to 2005. The Webb summer peccary trip is in full swing, under the leadership of Alf Museum director Dr. Don “Doc” Lofgren. A crew of students, faculty, and other volunteers are searching for fossils in the rough backcountry of Utah, working under permit from the US Bureau of Land 0anagement. -eff &ripe :6&É, who had just finished his freshman year at Webb, and frequent museum volunteer Duncan Everhart spotted a toe bone near the bottom of a Jeff Cripe WSC’08 as a high school student, with a dinosaur bone that he found.

Jeff Cripe WSC’08 in 2019, with the final bone that he discovered at the Cripe Site.

steep hillside. Following it up the side of the hill, they found numerous other bones, including some still protruding from the rock. The toe bones were immediately recognizable as those from a giant meateating tyrannosaurÆa rare find indeed The locality was nicknamed the Ç&ripe 6ite,È in honor of its discoverer.

After getting permission to open up a quarry to chase the fossils into the hillside, the museum began work in earnest at the &ripe 6ite during the summer of . These efforts continued nearly annually. As the true magnitude of the discovery became apparent, and as the required work ramped up, helicopters were brought in for field support. 1ets of food, water, and supplies were airlifted in at the beginning of the summer, and the heavy blocks of fossils were flown out at the end. ,t was a massive operation, finally completed in 6eptember . )ittingly, -eff &ripe was there to pull out the very last fossil bone!

(ven with the fieldwork completed, the lab work and research will continue for many years. Multiple blocks with fossil bones remain to be prepared by museum staff, students, and community volunteers, and scientific study of these &ripe 6ite fossils is only just beginning. ,tÊs an incredible legacy, not just for Webb and the Alf Museum, but for science as a whole.

A few highlights: • Partial skeletons of two plant-eating hadrosaur dinosaurs • The hind leg of a tyrannosaur • The best skull yet found for the extinct turtleDenazinemys ´ 6keleton of a new species of flying reptile, yet to be named • Hundreds of hours of real-world paleontology experience for Webb students

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Pop-Up Museums: Science Outreach on the Go T he Alf Museum, like most museums, is a place with a long tradition of learning and expanding perspectives. Guests come to us with the expectation of discovering new information or inspiring deep thought about the natural world. In the last few years, the education and outreach team of the Alf Museum have tried to push innovation in our educational programming to better benefit our surrounding communities. We have worked hard to develop content that connects the natural world to the human world, helping others understand and appreciate the science in their everyday lives and interests. But, as most museums experience, there is only so much we can do to reach audiences from within the walls of the museum. So, what better way to serve our communities as an educational resource than by taking our museum outside of our walls and directly to them? The Galactic Archive Pop-up Museum by Gabriel Santos

This was the thinking that led to the development of our pop-up museums, traveling exhibits developed and designed around a specific theme and narrative. :ith these popup museums, we can bring the Alf Museum to schools, community events, and many other settings to reach new audiences and expand our educational efforts. ,n particular, our popup museums allow us to bring science and education to traditionally non-educational settings. In fact, our most successful pop-up museum outings have been at comic book conventions.

At these celebrations of pop culture, we are able to really connect two seemingly different worlds by taking science concepts and weaving them into existing pop culture narratives. Take for example our Star Wars inspired popup, “The Galactic Archive,” where we discuss evolution and adaption to different environments from the perspective of the Star Wars galaxy, but then make connections to Earth by showing the real-world inspirations for creatures in a galaxy far, far away.

With our pop-up museums, the Alf Museum has also been able to strengthen our partnerships with other institutions, such as the Western Science Center, and build even new connections. For our most recent pop-up museum, it was developed through a collaboration with the Jim Henson Company to provide educational content for and promote their new science-inspired book series, “Franken-Sci High”.

So, from Jurassic Park dinosaurs to 3D printing technology to the natural history of Pokemon, our pop-up museums have given the Alf Museum many wonderful opportunities to te ach science and broaden the perspective of audiences that might have never even considered visiting a museum. We hope to be able to continue to develop these programs and continue to establish the Alf Museum as a world-class educational resource for southern California.