The enduring popularity of Discovery’s Shark Week programs, which had their 25th anniversary this year, shows us that we remain both horrified and fascinated by these marine predators. Young enthusiasts who aren’t quite ready to go cage-diving to study sharks can still contribute to our understanding of them by participating in the PaleoQuest Shark Finder program.
As part of a classroom-sourcing science program led by Jason Osborne and Aaron Alford, Shark Finder participants can receive a fossil kit with material that is 19 million years old. Sampled from the lowest portion of the Popes Creek Sands in Maryland, the material could have teeny shark, skate and ray fossils that need to be separated from grains of sand, bits of clay, and shell fragments. The kit includes tweezers, a small magnifying glass, and a tube for retaining the separated material. Once sorted, the entire kit can be mailed back to the researchers in Virginia. The fossil record will contribute to our understanding of the evolution of life on the Atlantic coastal plain.
For more information, contact either Jason or Aaron here.