What happens when paleontologists find a fossil?
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From the brains behind Brains On, this is the Moment of Om. Moment of Om comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Fiddle. And I'm a dog. Hey. Hi. Hello there. So nice to see you. You smell interesting.

Hey, do you want to go to the dog park? I went to the dog park today and there was a dog and he was digging. Yeah, dig, dig, dig. And he had his whole face in the mud. There's so much cool stuff buried underground. Rocks, tulip bulbs, sticks, poop from that big scary neighbor cat, a toy that somebody else buried.

Or maybe something called a fossil. My human, Anna, says a fossil is like a bone, but it's not a bone. It's a thing that was a bone and then turned slowly into a rock. I like bones. Maybe I should dig? Will I find a fossil? What happens if I do?

Robert had the same question. What do experts do when they find a fossil? Let's talk to a human who knows the answer.

So if you see a fossil on the ground, the first thing you need to do is figure out where that fossil is coming from. My name is Jameel Connor, and I am the Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago. I am a dinosaur paleobiologist. Most fossils come from deserts, and the reason for this is because fossils can only form in sedimentary rocks. So these are rocks that are

created by tiny little bits of existing rocks. So for example, lots of accumulated sand forming sandstone or mud forming mudstone. So as these layers of sedimentary rocks are forming, if an animal dies and falls into that accumulating sediment, it can become a fossil. And this is the only way things can become fossils with the exception of

being trapped in amber. That's another way that you can become fossilized. The faster a dead animal gets buried, the better the fossil will be. So there's a famous fossil from Mongolia that's a velociraptor battling a protoceratops. And like, you know, the arm of the velociraptor is in the mouth of the protoceratops and the

Velociraptor's claws are in the Protoceratops. It's very cool. So how did this become fossilized? This fossilized behavior, this exceptional fossil. They were probably battling by a sand dune that was wet and it collapsed, burying them alive. And so that rapid burial means that you get this complexion

You get two complete skeletons still preserved as they were in life. A very exceptional fossil. Now, imagine a forest, right? If an animal dies in the forest floor, you know, there isn't accumulating sediment.

Instead, in a forest, you have a lot of moisture. So there's a lot of other animals living there that are going to come feed on that carcass, which is going to tear it apart. And then it's going to rot. So it's not going to become fossilized. So usually you'll find broken bits of fossil that you trace up to the source where it's actually coming out of the rock. And then you start to dig in to find out if it's actually an isolated piece of fossil or maybe it's just the end of a whole skeleton that's still encased within the rock.

the layers of rock. Now, the next thing you got to do is you got to dig it out. And that is a very time consuming process. You know, depending on how hard the rock is and how delicate the fossil is, it can take a short period of time or a very, very long period of time. Sometimes for large skeletons of dinosaurs, you have to go back to the same site for years before you can get the entire skeleton out of the ground. So that's also why it's really important to have a great crew of people.

Wow! Maybe if I dig in the yard, I'll find a fossil. But if I find a fossil, I have to stop and sit and stay. Humans who study fossils go looking for them in places like deserts. Then they use special tools to dig them up, not their paws. I think I would rather lie in the dirt than dig in it.

Or sniff some poop. Or roll all over a dead snake. Oh, or I could jump in a puddle. Have you seen any puddles? If you like this episode, take a second to subscribe to Moment of Um wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want to sniff up more science, check out the Brains On podcast where we have a whole episode all about what makes you smell like you. You smell great.

Want to see our shows come to life? Head to YouTube where we've got awesome animated Brains On episodes. Search Brains On Universe on YouTube and subscribe. If you have a question, we'd love to help you answer it. Drop us a line by going to brainson.org slash contact. See you next time and the next day and every weekday. Until then, awoo!

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