>> WE APPARENTLY RAN ACROSS MUCH
OF A CROCODILE.
SO HERE'S A COUPLE OF VERTEBRAE.
>> OF A CROCODILE.
>> OF A CROCODILE.
>> THAT LIVED --
>> THAT LIVED IN THIS SWAMP
50 MILLION YEARS AGO.
>> THE FOSSIL COLLECTION
IN DR.
ROBERT ANEMONE'S OFFICE
IS MORE THAN JUST PROOF OF LIFE
AT THE START OF THE EOCENE EPOCH
IN WHAT IS NOW THE AMERICAN
WEST.
IT IS A SNAPSHOT OF TIME.
50 MILLION YEARS AGO,
THE DINOSAURS HAD DISAPPEARED.
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS WERE RISING.
PREHISTORIC MAMMALS WERE
ADAPTING AND SPREADING.
>> AND, AGAIN, THERE WAS A LAKE
IN THIS BASIN.
THE RIVER'S DRAINING INTO THE
LAKE.
SO ANIMALS, YOU KNOW, SOME OF
THE ANIMALS THAT WE'RE FINDING
WERE LIVING MOSTLY IN THE LAKE
OR ALONG THE SHORES OF THE LAKE
OR, YOU KNOW, ON THE STREAMS
THAT WERE COMING INTO IT.
>> WYOMING'S GREAT DIVIDE BASIN
IS IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE
STATE IN BETWEEN CHAINS OF THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
THE AREA STRADDLES THE
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
IT IS AN ARID LANDSCAPE NOW,
BUT AT THE START OF THE EOCENE,
THE LAND WAS UNDERWATER.
>> SO, AGAIN, THE CARAPACE OF A
TURTLE.
AGAIN, TURTLES ARE LIVING OUT,
YOU KNOW, ALONG THESE SWAMPS.
WE'VE GOT ALLIGATORS ALSO.
AGAIN, THE DERMAL BONES OR THE
SKIN BONES OF AN ALLIGATOR,
OR SCUTES, THEY'RE CALLED.
>> THE SKIN BONE.
>> YEAH, YEAH.
IT'S KIND OF, YOU KNOW,
AN EXTERNAL KIND OF SKELETON.
>> SENIOR BIOLOGY STUDENT ASHLEY
BRYANT FOUND SOME OF THE TINY
FOSSIL TREASURES.
>> BUT I REMEMBER WHEN I FOUND
MY FIRST JAW.
IT'S LIKE THE HEAVENS OPENED UP,
AND IT WAS JUST LAYING RIGHT
THERE ON THE GROUND.
I PICKED IT UP, AND I'M LIKE,
"TEETH IN A JAW!"
SO IT WAS AMAZING.
>> I DID IT.
>> I DID IT.
I DID IT.
JAWS WITH TEETH IN THEM ARE THE
ABSOLUTE BEST.
TEETH, PERIOD, ARE GOOD, BECAUSE
YOU'RE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT THAT
ANIMAL ATE JUST FROM LOOKING AT
THEIR JAWS.
YOU CAN SEE WHERE -- WHAT
MUSCLES ARTICULATED WHERE.
AND FROM USING THAT, YOU CAN,
SAY, LOOK AT A PAST FOSSIL THAT
YOU FOUND AND SEE THE DIFFERENCE
IN HOW THAT MAMMAL HAS
PROGRESSED, HOW THAT MAMMAL HAS
EVOLVED.
>> AND THIS FOSSIL-HUNTING STORY
COULD END THERE, WITH A
SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION PRODUCING
A RICH COLLECTION OF FOSSILS.
BUT IT DOESN'T.
>> PALEONTOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN
WORKING IN THE FIELD IN PRETTY
MUCH SIMILAR WAYS FOR THE LAST
100 OR MORE YEARS.
WE GO TO PLACES WHERE THE
GEOLOGISTS TELL US THE ROCKS ARE
OF THE RIGHT AGE AND THEY'RE
EXPOSED AND MAYBE THERE'S SOME
EROSION IN THE SURFACE.
AND WE TRY TO GET OUT INTO THESE
DEPOSITS, AND THEN WE SURVEY,
AND WE LOOK FOR FOSSILS ERODING
RIGHT OUT OF THE SURFACE.
WELL, WE FOUND LOTS OF FOSSILS
WITH THIS TECHNIQUE OVER THE
YEARS.
BUT IN VERY LARGE BASINS,
LIKE THE ONE THAT I WORK IN,
WHICH IS 10,000 SQUARE
KILOMETERS IN AREA, IT'S NOT --
IT'S PERHAPS NOT THE MOST
EFFICIENT WAY.
>> THIS IS JUST THE START OF THE
STORY, BECAUSE ONE NIGHT,
GAZING AT THE STARS IN THE DARK
WYOMING SKY, DR.
ANEMONE FOUND
INSPIRATION FOR A BETTER WAY TO
FIND FOSSILS.
>> THERE'S A SENSOR IN THE
LANDSAT SATELLITE WHICH IS
CAPTURING THE INTENSITY OF THE
REFLECTED RADIATION FROM THE
EARTH'S SURFACE BACK UP INTO
SPACE.
>> THAT'S RIGHT, SATELLITES.
THE LANDSAT PROGRAM LAUNCHED
IN 1972.
IT IS THE WORLD'S
LONGEST-RUNNING EARTH-IMAGING
PROGRAM.
LANDSAT SATELLITES IMAGE THE
EARTH IN VARIOUS WAVELENGTHS OF
LIGHT, BOUNCING OFF THE SURFACE.
SOIL AND EARTH FEATURES ARE IN
ONE WAVELENGTH, VEGETATION IN
ANOTHER, WATER IN STILL ANOTHER.
THERE ARE EIGHT IMAGES IN ALL,
AND THOSE IMAGES ARE COMBINED
TO FORM A COMPLETE PICTURE.
DR.
ANEMONE WORKED WITH OTHER
SCIENTISTS TO DEVELOP A COMPUTER
MODEL TO ANALYZE SATELLITE
IMAGES OF THE BASIN.
THE PROGRAM COMPARES KNOWN
FOSSIL LOCATIONS WITH
PROSPECTIVE DIG SITES.
IF THE SPECTRAL SIGNATURES OF
BOTH SITES MATCH, MEANING SOIL
TYPE, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION,
GROUND COVER, AND OTHER FEATURES
ARE THE SAME, THE PROGRAM
PREDICTS THERE'S A HIGH
PROBABILITY FOSSILS COULD BE
FOUND THERE.
>> SO THE SATELLITE IS ABLE TO
DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THESE
DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAND COVERS,
WE CALL THEM.
AND IT CAN BE TRAINED, THEN,
TO RECOGNIZE AND LOOK FOR OTHER
THINGS THAT RESEMBLE ANY ONE OF
THEM.
AND THE ONE THAT WE OBVIOUSLY
LOOK AT ARE THE KNOWN
LOCALITIES, AND LET'S FIND OTHER
ONES THAT -- THAT RESEMBLE
THOSE.
>> THE RED MARKINGS ON THE
SATELLITE IMAGE INDICATE
PREDICTED FOSSIL SITES.
TO TEST THE MODEL, DR.
ANEMONE
AND HIS TEAM WENT TO 31 PLACES
THE COMPUTER MODEL INDICATED
FOSSILS MAYBE FOUND IN.
>> THE YELLOW SHOWS A TRACE OF A
DAY'S WORK.
AND THE GREEN ARE PLACES WHERE
WE FOUND FOSSILS.
>> 25 OF THOSE DID YIELD
VERTEBRATE FOSSILS.
>> AND WITHIN AN HOUR WE FOUND
OUR FIRST EOCENE MAMMALS FROM
FOLLOWING THIS PREDICTIVE MAP.
AND IT WAS -- IT WAS A EUREKA
MOMENT.
IT WAS THE FIRST MOMENT WHEN WE
SAID, "THIS STUFF REALLY MIGHT
WORK."
>> FINDING FOSSILS I LEARNED IS
AN EXPERIENCE WHERE YOU HAVE TO
HAVE PATIENCE, BECAUSE AT A
CERTAIN POINT, YOU GET TO WHERE
IT'S LIKE EVERYTHING LOOKS THE
SAME.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS A ROCK
OR -- OR IF THIS IS A TOOTH.
BUT ONCE YOU FIND THAT TOOTH,
ONCE YOU FIND THAT BONE,
IT MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT.
>> DR.
ANEMONE CONTINUES
REFINING HIS SATELLITE
FOSSIL-FINDING SYSTEM.
AND HE ADMITS IT WILL TAKE TIME
FOR PALEONTOLOGISTS TO ACCEPT
THE IDEA.
TRADITION, AFTER ALL,
IS DIFFICULT TO CHALLENGE.
BUT, HE SAYS, EVEN WITH THE HELP
OF TECHNOLOGY, PALEONTOLOGY IS
STILL PAINSTAKINGLY HARD WORK.
>> WHAT I CAN SAY TO THOSE
COLLEAGUES AND TO OTHER
PALEONTOLOGISTS, THAT WE STILL
DO THE HARD WORK IN THE FIELD OF
WALKING LONG DISTANCES WITH OUR
EYES, YOU KNOW, ON THE GROUND,
BENT OVER AT THE WAIST.
BUT I THINK WE'RE DOING IT IN A
MORE EFFICIENT FASHION NOW THAN
THE WAY WE USED TO DO IT.
