Preparing Dinosaur Fossils Inside AMNH

Fossil preparators are highly skilled technicians who restore the naturally fractured bones and teeth of fossil to the original state, somewhat like art conservators restore damaged paintings and sculptures.

When fossils arrive from the field, they are encased in plaster jackets, and the rock, or matrix, which was deposited around the fossils. Fossil preparation involves cutting open the plaster jacket and removing this matrix surrounding the fossil.

The matrix may be soft and crumbly when the sand or mud is poorly cemented together, or it can be extremely hard when the sediments are well-cemented. Accordingly, a wide variety of tools is required to remove the matrix and stabilize the fossil. Commonly, dental tools are used to carefully pick away
sediment near the bone, along with custom-made needles composed of carbide steel.

Preparators carefully select the materials used to strengthen or repair specimens. Adhesives, glues, and fillers must stand the test of time and not become brittle or discolored, just like the materials used to conserve works of art. The types of materials used are recorded in order to aid future preparators if further preparation or repair is required.

Watch as Justy Alicea, a senior preparator at the American Museum of Natural History, works on a specimen and then gives a tour of the Museum's fossil preparation lab.

For more information visit http://www.amnh.org

Produced/edited by James Sims

Category:

Science & Technology

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• Tyrannosaurus rex

[MaxterandKiwiKing]

The armored dino I mean.

[MaxterandKiwiKing]

Thumbs up if you know the dinosaurs genus name.

[TheGuromu]

I am also a preparator of vertebrate fossils, and was glad to see that finally someone explains how to make the whole process of preparation of fossils in the paleontology laboratory ... because often people do not realize that the fossil must be prepared , studied and then exposed .... and the preparation of these same fossils takes months or even years! =)

[endspire]

thats cool

[kalehause]

copy of skull?

[JabberCT]

Awesome!

[SEThatered]

@FluffyBunniesOnFire

But if you are truly dedicated, you can try.

Besides museums are always happy to have extra help.

You can dedicate your pc and time and help the museum of your choice.

Just contact them directly.

Some of them can even provide you with a software under their licence

(for that you should usually sign a contract, but it is never a rip-off).

P.S. Personally, i think it is the best kind of donation, everybody can do.

[SEThatered]

@FluffyBunniesOnFire

It is not that boring and hard, but rather confusing (wich points i should take, wich delete?)

and a bit of frustrating (because my pc crashes a lot handling billion points).

I did such work earlier, and i decided to wait until some better software comes out.

Now there are such software, but the price is biting.

[FluffyBunniesOnFire]

@SEThatered I've always fancied geometry and algorithms. I might need an extra-cozy wrist cushion for my mouse hand, but compared to other work I've had to do, this is the kind of challenge I could actually dig.

[SEThatered]

@FluffyBunniesOnFire

Yes they 3D-laser scanners are used

(mostly on a very pricy, fragile, rare or from private collection items).

But by today standards, it is a whole lot of boring work.

Because all you get is a point cloud, wich contains millions and billions(milliards) of points.

So it needs a thorough additional work to convert it into NURBs os triangulated surfaces.

Trust me - you don't want to be one who does this.