What'S goin' on everybody, I'm Mark Vins, and today I'm trading in my ball cap'cause, I'm goin', full Dr. Grant and taking you on an adventure with me to find fossils 500 million years in the making. That'S right today we're looking for trilobites (, dramatic music, ), ( lion, roars, ), ( lion, roars, ) ( rocks crackling ).
So today we decided to take a trek about 50 miles outside of Delta Utah And I got ta say this is one of the coolest fossil sites in the United States. This place is absolutely chock-full with all kinds of Cambrian-age fossils, including the world-famous trilobite We're out here today to not only find one trilobite.
We have the opportunity to find dozens and potentially some of the rarest in the world All right, so I don't think we could do this with our bare hands. I think we're gon na need some equipment to do this. Two hammers is better than one. So let's go this way see what we can find. Oh wow check this out Cole here at U-Dig. Fossils is showin' me how it's down.
I already found a great trilobite It'S got a little chunk missing out of it, but that's by far the best trilobite I've ever seen come outta the ground and he's tellin' me we're gon na find a lot more of these today. Now this shale at one point, was at the bottom of an ocean. That'S why the trilobites are here: So they know what they're doing here at U-Dig Fossils They've found a trilobite-rich layer in the rock side and they've excavated it out and made it easier for us to access and split with our hammers So, let's get in here and see what we can do There we go.
I It's one of the more common species out here, but this is a cheeker because it has both of its head cheeks. On Look at that First split and Cole's tellin' me: it's a pretty good size. So when you're looking for fossils, you definitely wan na make sure you're searching in the right geological layer because you wan na be in the right period.
There are many species of trilobite and if you stick around to the end of the video I'm gon na, tell you yes, you at home, how you can take home one of these fossils that we find today, with a little giveaway contest that we're doing But stick around the end, we'll talk more about that later We got ta, keep searching for more fossils. That is a nice one.
Whoa Corey look at that. We got an Asaphiscus guys, A little bit more rare [ Cory, ] Yeah A little bit more rare, all right. Trilobites are actually arthropods and their closest living relative is none other than the horseshoe crab.
So if you guys remember when we found a horseshoe crab up there in Maine their exoskeletons molt, So sometimes what we're out here finding in the fossils are molts and those often are distinguished by being fragments like this A lotta times. If it's a molt, the cheeks are off so therefore cheekless Yup This is truly a one-of-a-kind treasure. Hunt out in Utah 500 million years ago represents the very start of the trilobite. So these are some of the oldest trilobites on earth and this species was the first species to actually develop complex eyes.
And actually, one of the first to also develop appendages, So they're pretty sophisticated little creatures for their time, And I have to say pretty impressive that we're actually able to find this. Many still out here in Utah I'M havin' an absolute blast. All right so check this out. I'M just diggin' down here. This just popped right out Might be the biggest trilobite of the day. Actually, That'S a cheeky trilobite! That'S what we're after right! There boom All right.
Well, see that up there, That is a snow storm coming in. It may end up being rain by the time it gets down here, but the temperature is dropping rapidly. We got ta, get our haul and get up and get some shelter'cause it's about to dump Look at those That is all of them. Oh, my goodness.
What we're gon na do next is we're actually going to clean up these fossils to make them a little more presentation, quality, (, upbeat, music, ). All right just got back from the polishing wheel and just look at these right here. Dr. Grant eat your heart out. Those are some gems.
We dug these up in about three hours here at the U-Dig Fossils trilobite quarry and the good news is anybody can do this? Yes, if you make it here to this quarry, you pay a small fee. They give you a bucket, They give you a hammer, They point you in the right direction and then you can unearth one of these prehistoric treasures for yourself Now, if you can't make it to Utah, I still have some good news for you as well.
All of the fossils that we found today, including these, are up for grabs. If you go to my TikTok page @ bravemarkvins answer a few simple questions: I'M going to pick about 40 winners, Put the fossils in little bags like this, I'm gon na DM you and ask for your mailing address And then just in a few days time you get a fossil in the mail.
Sound like a good deal, I think so. Well, let's get these trilobites to the car'cause. It'S time to go home Man. I had an excellent time out here. Diggin' up these prehistoric treasures, Thanks you guys so much for joining I'M Mark Vins, Be brave, Stay wild, We'll see ya on the next adventure All right. Let'S go ( upbeat rock music, ) ( lion, roars, ), ( birds, chirping, ),
No comments:
Post a Comment