Happy Two Year Anniversary!
We have been actively excavating fossils from the Montbrook site for two years now! How did that happen?!
Check out our ‘One Year Anniversary’ blog post for more info on the history of the dig site. A huge Thank You to the property landowner and family for allowing this ongoing excavation and to all of our diggers!
How many days have Florida Museum staff and volunteers excavated at the site?
- 28 (Fall 2015)
- 88 (Spring 2016)
- 65 (Fall 2016)
- 109 (Spring 2017)
- 28 days so far Fall 2017
- (Today is the 29th day!)
- Total = 318 days
How many people have worked at the site?
610!
Including Florida Museum staff, visiting scientists, and volunteers coming from as far as England and California, University of Florida and other college students, K-12 educators coming from across the United States, etc.
How many identifiable fossils have we uncovered?
Well… we are only 200 specimens away from cataloging 10,000 Montbrook fossils. These are just the few that have made it through the collecting, preparation, identification, and curation process thanks to all those working in the lab and collection. We have three (3) offsite storage areas housing Montbrook fossils, about 50 plaster jackets containing fossils waiting to be prepared in the museum, an infinite number of sandbags for screenwashing, and what appears to be an ancient elephant bone bed currently being excavated at the site. Feel free to use your imagination! Maybe 25,000 identifiable fossils?!
How many different species?
Over 60 including many types of fish, sharks, rays, birds, reptiles, some amphibians, and mammals. This site is very important because of the abundance of freshwater and land-dwelling species. Check out the ‘About Montbrook‘ page for a full list of these.
We have gone from drab (November 10th-12th, 2015):
To fab:
