We went to the Gray Fossil site today in Tennessee. About 10 years ago the D.O.T. was clearing for a new road way and discovered an alligator skull. After some research they relocated the road expansion and opened the dig site. The fossils date from 4.5-7 millions years in age!!! They have tapirs, alligators, saber tooth cats, red pandas and a few other things.
This triceratops skull was NOT found here but it was cool to look at! 🙂
Our tour guide took us out to the dig site. They said it will take 700 years to go through the entire site. I just don’t think they are working hard enough! 🙂 It didn’t seem all that hard to me.
I got to try my hand at sifting through some of the actualy stuff from the fossil site.
We had to shake shake shake.
Taking a break to let some other people have a turn.
Back to work. We were in a tour group with about 10 college kids who were really not that bright. They were asking a lot of questions I knew the answers to because Mommy read me the flyer about the dig site!
I was very eager to find something, anything!
I kept asking the guide if I “found something”. He was really cool and talked with me a lot!
I did, in fact, find a fossil! It was a bone fragment of some animal. I got to take it to the paleontologist and he told me it was “bone”. Then I was handed a piece of paper that said I found a fossil. Then my fossil was GONE! Property of the Natural History Museum and State of Tennessee.
At least I got to take a picture with it! 🙂
We explored the museum a bit. I liked all the “digging pits”.
I tried my hands at bone reconstruction. It was tough at first but once I got a few pieces together it started to take shape.
An Alligator skull ! WOO HOO!
They also had a traveling exhibit about DINOSAURS! I took a rest in the dinosaur nest with the huge fluffy dino eggs!
We stomped around and make footprints in the foam.
I got to create my own dinosaurs.
Ta-da!!!
Then it was time to leave and Mommy wanted a photo of Emmerson and me in front of the fountain out front. She snapped one…
Then I told her “NO MORE PICTURES!”
