Friday Field Photo - what is it??

We spent the day down by Gateway, Colorado, prospecting and looking at various tracks in the Chinle and Wingate Formations. While looking at a huge track slab I happened to see something weird hanging from a tree branch. I took these two photo of it (horrible lighting, apologies). Unfortunately we forgot the good camera at home, the ok camera at the hotel, and were only left with my cell phone, so that is what I used. Since it was so cool and not something I had ever seen, I thought I would share it and see if anyone else could guess what it is.

Any guesses?!?!? :-)

[edit: check out the comments...]

© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster

Hot off the truck!

Well, actually it is cold (temperature wise), but you get the point. UPS just dropped of my copy of Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life by Scott Sampson. Since I did not make it to SVP this year I missed out on my book buying and having a chance to see all the new material out. So I am very excited to have my copy of this book and I am looking forward to reading it. And added bonus for me is that if you flip to page 148 you will find a photo I took of the Kaiparowits Formation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The publisher, University of California Press, book description:

"This captivating book, laced with evocative anecdotes from the field, gives the first holistic, up-to-date overview of dinosaurs and their world for a wide audience of readers. Situating these fascinating animals in a broad ecological and evolutionary context, leading dinosaur expert Scott D. Sampson fills us in on the exhilarating discoveries of the past twenty-five years, the most active period in the history of dinosaur paleontology, during which more "new" species were named than in all prior history. With these discoveries--and the most recent controversies--in mind, Sampson reconstructs the odyssey of the dinosaurs from their humble origins on the supercontinent Pangaea, to their reign as the largest animals the planet has ever known, and finally to their abrupt demise. Much more than the story of who ate whom way back when, Dinosaur Odyssey places dinosaurs in an expansive web of relationships with other organisms and demonstrates how they provide a powerful lens through which to observe the entire natural world. Addressing topics such as extinction, global warming, and energy flow, Dinosaur Odyssey finds that the dinosaurs' story is, in fact, a major chapter in our own story."

You can take a look inside the book here, and buy your own copy for under $20 here!

© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster

Collard Lizard

Here are two pictures of a Collard Lizard I took a few weeks ago while doing field work. He was very calm and happily sunning himself on a rock, and was not to concerned with me. I took quite a few close up pictures. These were two of the better ones so I thought I would share them (due to lack of anything else to post at this time). 



© ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster

SVP 2008

This year was my 8th time to attend the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting. They have all been great meetings, and I love getting to see every one each year and hear about all of the new and exciting research taking place in my field! I take my camera pretty much everywhere I go (in case you might not have noticed), and I love to document the things that happen at these meetings. I have been posting my pictures from SVP every year on my website (Dinochick.com) and I have done the same with this years pictures. I wish I could have posted them a bit more quickly than I have, but that is life, and I do the best I can with the time I have. So please feel free to check out the SVP 2008 pictures. I hope you enjoy them and please feel free to pass them on! I am always open to suggestions also, so if you see something you like, or dislike, please feel free to let me know!
If anyone happens to know any of the people in the pictures below can you please let me know (sorry, it is hard to remember everyone's names at these meetings!). Thanks :)



Who is the girl with the fun shirt?



Who are these three nice men?


Who is the lady to the left please?



Who is Bill talking to here?