2022 Paleo Trip

 Students got up bright and early this morning to pack their bags and clean up their houses in preparation to hit the road. The group met for a final breakfast at the Ranger Creek Ranch before loading up the van and heading back to Houston. We started the drive by filling up with gas one last time in Seymour then we were "east bound and down" towards Fort Worth. As the drive continued, Dr. Salem decided on barbecue for lunch. This led us to stop at "Texas's Best" barbecue joint outside of Fort Worth. After we ate, the group decided that despite not being the best in Texas, it was still a solid lunch for the day. We then continued south towards Houston. After an uneventful 250 miles, we pulled into the school parking lot and began to unload the bags. It was a successful travel day for the group and we are all happy to be home after a long and exciting week in the field. 

Because we couldn't get morning coffee the day before the girls were determined to start today with a cup of caffeine. In the small town of Seymour, there is only one cafe that serves lattes, B' Nutritious & Sweet, first step into the cafe and the entire atmosphere was totally transformed. Somehow the suede furniture and hanging lamps didn't emit retro vibes. Once the task of retrieving coffee was completed we assembled at the whiteside museum and made our way to the dig site.  As this was our sixth day digging we were all well acquainted with the daily routine, or rather the routine of the sun moving across the sky. The combination of crusty dusty dry air and the scorching hair frying afternoon sun in the rural city of Seymour could inflict a catastrophe for city folks. And thus our first line of action was to set up a tarp for the groups that’ll get burned in the afternoon. Though this shouldn't have taken up a good chunk of the morning, it took 7 people and 7 tim

 Our day started with a delicious breakfast provided by the lovely ranch workers. Shortly after, we headed to the Whiteside museum to begin our day. To start we went to our dig site and began excavating. Shortly after arrival I, India, found the ulnar of India the dimetrodon, and a few fin spines to match her massive physique.  Aside from that, the boys continued to work on their plaster project. In the afternoon Claire found an impressive dimetrodon skeleton. Alice also discovered a tiny ouranosaurus, so far only a few minuscule parts have been found, but nonetheless, even just the discovery of the minute creature is impressive.  To end our day we were accompanied by Chris, Holly, and a few other workers on the site, to a local steak house. The dinner was fantastic and a great way to end an amazing day. 

     On day 6 of the trip, we woke up at 7:45 and started the day with a breakfast of biscuits, sausage, cereal, and cinnamon rolls prepared for us by the chef at the ranch. During the day we continued to work in the field digging for fossils. Members of the group found fossils of dimetrodon skull, fin bone, shoulder, and numerous other fossils from dimetrodon and other creatures from the Permian period. Connor, Niko, and I worked on a bone bed where we had found a dimetrodon skull and a scapula. After digging for the whole day we found a few vertebrae and other small fossils.      In the evening we went to an annual crawfish boil hosted by the ranger creek ranch. The crawfish boil had all types of games and activities. A local band performed live music for the first half of the crawfish boil. For dinner, they served boiled Crawfish, sausage, shrimp, and corn. After eating the food we went on a hayride that took us around the property and showed us the amazing view of the hills and the

  Day 7  Post Oak On the Rocks The day started at the houses where we all had breakfast and then left for The Whiteside Museum. We then drove to see some sandstone and learned about the geological history of the area. We got tiny hand lenses and looked at some of the rocks we found on the ground. Chris’ father Jim taught us how to classify rocks and how to identify the different grains in the rock and if they were smooth or not. Then we walked to go look at some coprolite, fossilized poop.  Then we got back to work on our fossils.  After lunch we went back to the Whiteside Museum and got to look for shark teeth in sandstone, by wetting it and sifting through it in water. India glued the pieces of her tibia and fibula from her skeleton together.  After that we retired to our houses and went to the lodge for dinner.

 On our fourth day of this magnificent A term, we had an early rise at 7 in the morning to enjoy a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, and potatoes. After this, we departed to the Whiteside museum of national history, where we met our paleontology experts Chris, and Holly. They explained to us that some 300 million years ago most of Texas was covered in water, especially the Seymore area. At this time there were a lot of amphibians and other creatures, but mainly among them was the Dimetrodon. This creature was a carnivore that mostly lives on land but sometimes would live in the water. It is classified as a  non-mammalian synapsid. He also told us that Seymore is pretty much the best place in the world to find and study them and that that was what we were going to mostly find on our dig today.  After a 20 minute drive to  Craddock ranch,  which is where the dig site is, we started our Palio work by just walking around, looking at the ground to see how many fossils we could find. It tu

 Today was the third day of our A-Term. Although today was our travel day, we still had a great time and got to get to know the ranch and individual homes we would be staying at. We started the day with COVID tests, they were the quick 15 minute ones so they didn't take to long to finish. Our group then split into two vans and began the long drive to our dig site and ranch homes. After about an hour or so we took a break at Bucky's where we all used the restroom and some students bought snacks. We then drove for another two and a half or so hours until we got to the diner where we would be having lunch. The food was super good and once we were ready we began the final leg of our journey.  At about seven in the afternoon we all arrived at the ranch and our hostess showed us the two houses we had available to stay at. After a short dispute and a coin toss the accommodations were settled and the guys drove to their house. After picking beds and unpacking we headed back to the main

    Today was our last full day here in Houston until we embark on our trip to Seymour , Texas. We spent our morning listening to a presentation by our guest speaker Mr. Ladesma a paleontologist working to get his Phd in paleontology and herpetology. His presentation taught us more about paleontology as he spoke about his job in exploring caves to find fossils from tens of thousands of years ago. His work was very interesting to hear about as he talked about the plants, animals, and fossils that he has found in caves. He explained the process he takes to find these fossils and remove them from the site in order to take them to labs to be researched and examined. Mr.Ladesma gave us more insight into paleontology and was very informative and interesting to hear from.      In the afternoon we spent our time presenting our presentations from yesterday. These presentations from each group where about a variety of different topics leading into our Seymour trip. Some of these things were on g

     Today was the first day of Paleontology A-Term. Exciting! We started the day off by going over the schedule for the week. Monday and Tuesday are prep days before the paleontology trip. Wednesday to next Wednesday is when we are going to be gone for our trip. When we get back, we are cleaning the vans and creating our final presentation. After going over the schedule for the A-Term, we got our Permian Field Guide and journal. These are both items we will be using while digging for fossils in North Texas. Next, we set up the blog and got a chance to ask any questions that we had about the trip. Dr. Salem then talked to us about the expectations for the trip and the work we will be doing. One of my favorite expectations is to “put in the work.”      After we did an introduction and overview, we got into pairs and picked topics to research for tomorrow’s presentation. Some of these topics include roadside geology Houston to Seymour, sedimentary rocks and stratigraphy, interpreting dep

  Welcome to Paleo Field School 2022!   Emergency Contact Information Dr. Anthony Salem - tonysalem@postoakschool.org ,   Ms. Tiffney Trimble – tiffneytrimble@postoakschool.org ,  James Quillin, High School Director, at 281-822-8021   *after hours for use in case of emergency only: 281-908-9434 4.  Backup contact: Debbie Henderson, MDC Administrator, at 281-822-8035;  *after hours for use in case of emergency only: 713-416-3518. Please complete prior to the trip: ALL medications need to be submitted before Spring Break (3/9/22) in a ziplock bag with signed Medication Dispensing form. We will not be bringing any medications from Post Oak. Please bring new prescription medications for the duration of the trip. We carry all OTC medications from the list. Make sure you are signed off on the list of OTCs before the beginning of the trip. (Via Magnus). We are required to test for COVID prior to the trip. Parents must wait until the results are ready. Listed below is a basic pack list, yo