Most of the fossil remains are found by chance, usually in the construction of roads and buildings, although there are some areas where researchers know that remains are more likely to be found. Once the fossil is found, in the same place where it is found, the upper layer of rock and stones that covers it is removed, trying to delimit the size of the piece. Subsequently, several trenches are dug around it, at a safe distance from it, in order to extract the entire piece.
As Felipe Malavet, one of the specialists from the Villa de Leyva Paleontological Research Center, in Colombia, explained to us during the 2015 BBVA Route, “if we try to remove the fossil directly without a layer of rock covering it, we could damage it, it would be dangerous ”.
After the extraction, the entire piece is covered with plaster , the same as that used in hospitals to immobilize broken bones. In this way, it is intended to prevent any blow from damaging the fossil, because although they are “rocks”, they are really delicate remains.
Once transported to the laboratory, the upper layer of the plaster is removed and the mechanical preparation of the fossil begins. To clean the piece to the maximum, paleontologists use a device similar to the burs used by dentists that, thanks to a small vibration and air, manages to separate the pieces of excess rock that cover the piece. “To avoid damaging it, they approach about 3-4 millimeters from the fossil edge”, explains Malavet.
Once the mechanical preparation is finished, the researchers must clean it even more to get the paleontological remainder completely clean. To do this, the first thing they do is apply a protective chemical (B 72) to the part that is exposed to avoid the deterioration that acids could cause. Subsequently, the piece is immersed in specific and controlled chemical solutions to eliminate that small crust of earth and rock of no more than 5 millimeters.
Once clean, scientists study the material in depth, identifying both the species to which these remains belonged, as well as the different parts of it, its size, and so on.
This entire process is laborious manual work that can take scientists from weeks to months or even years depending on the size of the part. And it is also a very important task in the research and conservation of fossil remains.
Photography: Ruta BBVA
