- [Coyote] Right there, that white spot?
- [Pete] That's it, that's it.
- [Coyote] I am so excited right now.
(cracking)
(serious drum music)
From a birds eye perspective, the seemingly
barren landscape that visually defines the Badlands,
is in reality, a rich deposit of prehistoric treasure.
The Badlands are characterized by their steep slopes
made of soft sedimentary rocks, and clay-rich soil,
that has been eroded over millions of years
by the powers of wind and water.
In short, a location such as the one we are exploring today,
is perfect for finding fossils.
Leading this expedition is Pete Larson,
a world renowned paleontologist.
Also along for the journey is his
field specialist, Reece Hosack.
They're taking the crew and I to a top secret dig location
where they have been finding and excavating fossils
from the Paleogene period, which dates back
between 25 and 60 million years ago.
Sounds ancient, yet this period is not old enough
for us to be finding the fossils of dinosaurs.
So, while we won't be digging up a T-Rex quite yet,
keyword yet, we do stand the chance of happening upon
ancient mammals and prehistoric reptiles.
All right guys, thus far we've gone on
an incredible journey, and this is the point
where we leave the vehicle behind.
Now, it appears as if we may have landed on the moon,
or in this case, traveled back in time 35 million years.
Pete, tell us about this location.
- [Pete] So, we are halfway between
the time of T-Rex, and us.
- [Coyote] Okay.
- And, here is where we first see, really,
the mammals where you can really identify 'em.
You can say, this is a horse, this is a camel,
this is a saber-tooth cat, this is a giant pig,
this is a turtle, this is a fossil snake.
All of those have been found here.
So, we're gonna find some really cool stuff today.
- Nice, now I am a self proclaimed bone hound.
And this is true Badlands, which means there's
lots of skeletons out here, whether it's skulls or bones.
I'm always posting them online.
And, if you were to say to me, Coyote,
I need you to find this epic artifact today,
what would you have me go out there and search for?
- Well, you really would be great
if you could find us a saber-tooth cat.
- Saber-tooth cat, Pete I think I could
find a saber-tooth cat today.
Mark, what do you think?
- [Mark] You know, I think we should give it a shot.
- Okay, cool.
Mario, are you excited to head out there?
- Definitely very excited.
- [Mark] Ready to go?
- I'm ready to go.
Well, if you guys are all ready, Pete you lead the way,
and let's head out into the Badlands
and see what types of fossils we can find.
- All right, let's go.
- Here we go.
The daytime temperatures of the Badlands
were unlike anything we had faced before.
Climbing well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
the dryness in the air alone, makes it feel
as if you were being roasted in an oven.
Slowly we traipsed through the parched landscape.
And, with diligently focused eyes,
we scanned our surroundings, hoping to catch
the off-white gleam of anything that stood out
against the crumbling slopes.
Fossilized bone that is exposed from the substrate
is much easier to detect than one would think.
And, if you know where to look,
it's only a matter of time before
you happen upon the remains of an ancient creature.
Oh, hey guys.
It's a Raptor foot Pete, is this a new species?
- [Pete] I believe it's a described species.
That's pretty cool.
- Here's a tooth.
- [Pete] So, that's a little antelope, (mumbling)
- [Coyote] Okay.
- [Pete] A little American antelope, which is not a--
- Hold this, hold this.
Now, just so we're clear guys,
I did not find a new species of raptor.
But, this is cool Pete, I think we should look at this.
Right here you've got, you may have to film it
from this side guys, this is the foot of a bird.
- [Pete] It is absolutely.
- Right, but so this is modern day,
but this is how a fossil could ultimately form.
You've got the skeleton that's come down this slope.
- It's probably a songbird, I'm gonna guess Meadowlark.
- That is not a Velociraptor foot, or you know,
any of the raptors from prehistoric times.
But, that's a good find.
Like, for me, that's a good find guys.
- [Mark] So, that's a avian dinosaur technically.
- This is a modern day dinosaur.
- It is, absolutely.
- For sure.
That is cool.
I should probably leave this so it can
turn into a fossil, right?
- [Pete] Yes, you should leave it
so it can turn into a fossil.
- It's no joke when I say that I am good
at finding bones, in fact, at almost every location
we visit, my favorite thing to do when we are not filming,
is to search for natural artifacts like skulls.
Got it, okay.
So, while the discovery of my modern day dinosaur skeleton
was cool, it certainly wasn't prehistoric.
Pete enjoyed the humor, and reassured us
that this location was rich with fossils.
And, sure enough, with just a few steps further
we spotted our first major find.
All right, so we walked a few feet,
and Pete said, okay stop, I see something.
So, we popped the cameras back on.
Pete, what do you got?
- Well, if you look over in this area,
can you spot a turtle?
This is called Turtle Spot, it's only about 50 feet away.
- I'm good at finding turtles guys,
hold on, give me a second.
I see something up there.
- [Mark] Are you good?
- Right there, that white spot.
- [Pete] That's it, that's it.
- [Coyote] Is that the top of a carapace?
- [Pete] That's the top of a turtle carapace.
- [Mark] Oh, I see it.
- [Coyote] Yeah, zoom in on that, that's a turtle.
- [Mark] Nice.
- [Coyote] Now, it's, might not have to catch that one,
it's not going anywhere fast, but.
- It's like trainspotting, but it doesn't
move as fast as trains.
- Okay, well let's walk up and take a look at it.
All right, what you guys are looking at right there
is the carapace of a turtle, and Pete,
you tell me, this is a good one.
- Oh, it's a good, yeah, it's a good turtle.
And, it's just small enough where I can get it
just barely into the backpack so.
- Is it okay to touch it?
- Yeah, you should be able to touch it,
shouldn't be any problem.
There's a few loose pieces here but
everything looks pretty sound.
We'll kind of get some glue on it before we start.
But, this, we'll be able to get this
out of the ground pretty quickly here.
- Sweet.
All right guys, we are gonna excavate a turtle.
We were ecstatic to have found a fossilized turtle.
And, under Pete's guidance, we carefully began
to excavate the specimen.
You know, just my luck, that we would've found
a turtle as the first fossil.
I am so excited right now.
At first, we chipped away at the crumbling rock.
Gently removing the dust and fragments.
This process allowed us to slowly reveal
more and more of the ancient reptile.
Only, the further we exposed the animal,
the more we began to realize that this turtle
was much bigger than we had originally thought.
All right guys, well it's taken us
a little over an hour, but we have exhumed
this tortoise, much bigger than we thought.
So, what Pete wants to do now,
is actually protect it with a plaster jacket.
We're not gonna actually take this tortoise
out of here today, but it will be preserved
for you to come back at a later point and pick it up, right?
- [Pete] Right, we'll drive up here after the mud dries up
a little bit and roll it into the back of the vehicle.
- [Coyote] Cool.
Now, how much would you say this fossil weighs?
- [Pete] Oh, this is gonna be in excess of 100 pounds.
- Yup, don't wanna put that in your backpack.
All right guys, let's keep searching for that cat skull.
We moved no more than 100 yards further up
into the valley, when we found yet another turtle.
Check this out guys, we got another turtle,
and this one is small.
Look at this.
That's a plaster on that you're looking at right there.
- [Mario] Oh yeah.
- Now Pete, this is one that we
can take back to the lab, right?
- [Pete] Yeah, this one'll go real fast.
We can probably prep this while you guys are here tomorrow.
- Sweet.
All right guys, well this is exciting.
Now, the other turtle was way too big
to take back with us, but as you can see
this will fit in Pete's backpack.
So, we're gonna quickly unearth it,
protect it, and then keep searching.
- So, I've got it loosened on the bottom.
And, we're gonna get my hand underneath here.
I'm gonna pop, get this front piece too.
All right.
- Cool.
- So, it's right there, see that?
- Yeah.
- It's right there.
The front end is really nice.
This guy's gonna prepare very easily.
I'm just gonna take away, I'm gonna leave that there.
And, take away this.
- [Coyote] That's all extra matrix, right?
- [Pete] A little extra matrix.
- [Coyote] Oh, look at that pop right off that shell.
- [Pete] You wanna see my impression of a turtle?
(laughing)
- [Coyote] With the turtle shell safely pried up
from the earth's baked crust, we gently wrap
the fossil in foil, and place the ancient treasure
into Pete's backpack.
At this juncture, Pete felt it was time to let
the crew and I hunt for fossils on our own.
- Rolling? - Rolling.
- Action, yeah.
- Rolling, rolling, I'm rolling too.
- [Mark] Man, it's hot.
- It is super hot.
We have made some incredible finds thus far.
Turtles, and a whole bunch of little bones and teeth.
Now, Pete has showed us the process
that we need to go through to search for these fossils.
And, at this point, he has turned us loose,
and sent us on the mission of finding
a saber-tooth cat skull.
It could happen guys.
They do find them out here.
Now, what I'm gonna do, is give you a GoPro Mark.
- Okay.
- [Coyote] There ya go.
- Got my GoPro.
- I'm also gonna give one to you Mario.
- [Mark] Oh, I see what's going on here.
- And then, I've got one right here filming me.
Now, we're gonna break down the main cameras
and use the GoPros to film ourselves
walking around searching for fossils.
Now, if you find something epic, call it out.
May the man with the best fossil win.
Good luck guys, let's see what we can find.
- [Mark] All right Mario, ready?
- All right.
- [Mark] Let's do this.
- Which way do we go?
- [Mark] Any way you want.
- [Mario] All right, I'll go this way.
- All right guys, they have turned
the bone hound loose into the Badlands.
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion
as the crew and I reveal a trove of prehistoric treasure.
- [Mark] Oh my goodness, is that a saber?
Oh my God.
Oh man, I wonder if there's more of it.
- [Coyote] Hey Coyote Pack, while you are waiting
for the fossil finale, make sure to go back
and watch the first episode of Beyond Dinosaurs
where I get to hold the world's most famous dinosaur tooth.
And, don't forget, subscribe.
So, you can join me and the crew
on our next prehistoric adventure.