- The thing about fossils
is that when they're exposed
there's a very, very,
very brief period of time
before they're gone.
A fossil on the surface in
this type of environment
may have three or four
years until it's dust.
If you don't collect it, no
one will ever collect it.
Every year, we bring
families, and students,
and fossil enthusiasts
from all over the world,
we collect exclusively on
private ranches in Nebraska,
Wyoming, South Dakota of course,
North Dakota where we are now,
and a little bit in Montana.
If you have no background,
we have a number of guides
that go out in the field with you.
They'll help you get familiar with
what the fossils look like,
where to find them, how to find them.
- So, this is the end of the bone,
if you can visualize a big limb
bone like say maybe a tibia,
and it's going into the ground that way.
- To realize the tricks, like
when you see little pieces
on the surface, a lot in a cluster,
if you dig a little carefully you can find
slightly bigger pieces that might lead you
to slightly bigger pieces.
- [Dr. Niklas] The way our system works
is the participants come
out and they prospect.
If they find a bone or a scatter of bones,
anything that is not
really of scientific value
they can keep that.
- That was probably the
biggest draw for me,
being able to keep what you find.
- The thrill of it is going
out and finding it yourself,
and you know, putting the work into it,
and you know, I'll spend
hours prepping this later.
- When they do find an 
articulated specimen,
when they do find something
that's unique or important,
then I bring in students from
the university where I teach.
- Once we find the bones
and we slowly uncover them
and glue them, then we will undercut it,
and it gets a layer of PVA on it,
and then the foil, and then burlap,
and plaster of paris, and
that will create a hard case
to where we can bring it back home safely.
- That specimen will be
prepared and mounted,
and eventually delivered
to an academic institution.
What you see going on in the background
are some students excavating a site
that was discovered by
one of our participants.
It was a semi-articulated triceratops,
which is incredibly rare.
- Anybody can contribute to paleontology,
it's like astronomy that way.
Most of T-Rex's ever found
have been found by amateurs.
- [Dr. Niklas] We've
discovered a Tylosaur,
we've found a 24-foot
long Edmontosaurus tail
that was mummified, and so
you have skin impression,
a number of smaller Mosasaurs,
Xiphactinus, which is a
giant Cretaceous fish,
five Hadrosaurs, a juvenile T-Rex skull
with all of the teeth.
- Everything we find here,
is I think it's amazing.
I mean, even the lowliest
little section of turtle shell.
That's a turtle that
lived among the dinosaurs
66 million years ago.
- Part of the wonder of this
place is that it's so vast
and there's nothing here,
and you feel like when you around a bend
that you're the first person
to ever go around that bend.
- There's stuff everywhere,
and you just have to have the
patience to go look for it.
- You're digging and digging,
and you finally find
a bone that you know,
nobody was seeing for all these years.
It's a pretty awesome feeling.
- [Man] It's a community, it's a thrill.
- It's just a really amazing experience.
- I would definitely do it again.
(group mumbles)
- Gah, that was all caught on film.
(all laugh)
Ah, destroy the film!
(upbeat music)
