High School Student Discovers Skeleton of Baby Dinosaur

October 22, 2013 5:04 PM

High school student discovers Skeleton of Baby Dinosaur
posted by y2karl (17 comments total)

Made it to 4:12 before I decided I actually wanted to sleep again in my lifetime.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 5:12 PM on October 22, 2013

We found a little dinosaur

A little baby dinosaur

We found the bones of a baby dinosaur

He must have gone away.
posted by The Whelk at 5:17 PM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

Holy crap the alt text on those links. Reeks of... effort.
posted by pwnguin at 5:27 PM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

First link should probably be to this.
posted by beagle at 5:31 PM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

More on the discoverer, Kevin Terris.
posted by beagle at 5:34 PM on October 22, 2013

aw, the little baby. only 6 feet long
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:44 PM on October 22, 2013

The Webb Schools (the high school Mr. Terris attends) happens to be my alma mater (class of '87); it's the only high school in the US, and possibly on the planet, with its own accredited paleontological museum on campus (the Alf Museum).

The paleontology trips are a feature of the school; they're called "peccary trips" (because an early trip led to discovery of an entire rare peccary skeleton) and many if not most of the students go on at least one during the school year. There are also extended trips over the summer; I went on one between my freshman and sophomore year that was a month long. I discovered a mouse jaw that had never been discovered before. Mr. Terris' find, I have to say, is more impressive.

Next summer's trip, as my alumni magazine informs me, will go to Mongolia and the Gobi desert. Could be fun.
posted by jscalzi at 5:45 PM on October 22, 2013 [6 favorites]

No, I reversed my links is what it was.... the second was to the table of 3D images of the skeleton. I figured people could scroll up.
posted by y2karl at 5:45 PM on October 22, 2013

"it's the only high school in the US, and possibly on the planet, with its own accredited paleontological museum on campus"

Wow. My high school barely covered the basics. You know, like math.

From jscalzi's link: Tuition for the 2013-2014 school year is $51,515 for boarding students and $36,635 for day students.

Oh. Ok. That makes more sense.
posted by pencroft at 7:03 PM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

In further headlines, the school's cloning lab reports Baby Dinosaur Discovers Skeleton of High School Student
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:40 PM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm so jealous I didn't go to that high school.
posted by _paegan_ at 12:08 AM on October 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

The Webb Schools is also my alma mater (class of '83). I never missed a museum trip - proud to say that a fossil turtle I found in 1980 is currently on display there now.
posted by quartzcity at 2:41 AM on October 23, 2013

“This is the first time that anyone has put this much data for a single specimen out in the wild,” Farke says. “If someone wants to 3D print the entire skeleton, they can."

This would be ten times cool!
posted by newdaddy at 4:10 AM on October 23, 2013

Yay! This is where I live! Well, the school and museum are. :D I just visited the museum last month - will have to go back to see Joe the Dinosaur.

Speaking of whom, I don't see it linked here in my cursory scan, but there's a website -- Discovery of Joe the Dinosaur -- that includes a 3D viewer.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:01 AM on October 23, 2013

Also wanted to mention about the museum. It's small and round, with the hub functioning as offices on one level and labs on the other. On the main floor, as you move clockwise or counterclockwise around the "wheel," you move back or forward in time - so you can start at the beginning of the universe or at present day, and go on a journey. Very nice design.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:04 AM on October 23, 2013

In further headlines, the school's cloning lab reports Baby Dinosaur Discovers Skeleton of High School Student.

Was it inside the student?

Was he still using it when it was discovered?
posted by rochrobbb at 9:18 AM on October 23, 2013

True story. My high school archaeology was set to begin a "dig" at the site of a burnt down luxury dude hotel which once had the likes of Teddy Roosevelt as a guest. When we got there prepared to stake out grids, we learned the farmer who owned the land (and gave us permission to excavate) had scraped/bulldozed all of the dirt into one pile to make it easier to find things.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:46 AM on October 23, 2013 [2 favorites]