Paleontological Field Work in the Wildcat Creek Beds

Dr. Meaghan Wetherell and her many assistants have more than doubled the known number of fossils from the 25-million-yr-old Wildcat Creek Beds near Rimrock Lake. The area has only had limited paleontological material collected in the past, with the steep topography and vegetation often hindering previous fossil work. Field work includes surveying across steep and rough terrain for vertebrate fossils, as well as excavating specimens using chisels and plaster jackets, similar to the tortoise found in 2018. Field work will resume in the spring when the snow melts to expose the rock and steep topography again.