Kylie's Fossil Find

This is a real life story of a very important fossil that was discovered in Badlands

National Park during the summer of 2010.

During the summer, kids and their families attend junior ranger programs every day at Badlands National Park. On May 30, 2010 a seven year old girl named Kylie Ferguson went on one of these programs with her family. Her mom and dad took her to the program, along with her sister Skylar. During the program, the Ferguson family learned all about fossils.

While they were exploring the Badlands, Kylie and her mom noticed something on the ground that looked a little unusual. It was buried in a butte. It was shiny and white. They thought it might be a fossil.

Often identified as saber tooth cats, Nimravids are in fact distantly related to modern day felines.

They did the right thing! They told a ranger. Next, they fi lled out a visitor site report at the visitor center. It turned out to be an exceptionally rare and well-preserved saber tooth cat fossil. A survey of the area led to the discovery of additional fossil material. The area is now known as the Saber Site.

Teachers As your students learn about fossils, this nonfiction story will help them understand the science of paleontology and the importance of protecting our natural resources. Furthermore, they may be able to better identify with the real life story of another young student.

Learn more...

• Fostering Children’s Dreams of Becoming a Paleontologist 100,000 Times — Children, young and old, ventured to Petrified Forest National Park on June 6th to celebrate Dinosaur Day. Among the many fossil-focused activities, a “TOP SECRET” surprise was being guarded closely under the “Smokey Bear” hats worn by the park rangers and paleontologists at the park. The 100,000th Junior Paleontologist booklet would be handed to one of the young participants.
• Girl Scouts Help Tule Springs Video Project — Something cool is happening in the desert near Las Vegas. A new National Monument has been created for giant ice age fossils found at Tule Springs. Girl Scout Troop 41 proposed making a video to help spread the word. The result is a video field trip to the park and a whole lot of community support!
• Dino Club! — Learn about some of the cool things that other kids who love fossils are doing.
  Read about Samantha's Dino Club!
• Meet the Author — Olivia McConnell lives in South Carolina. Olivia loves science. She wanted her state to have an official "state fossil" so she worked hard to get the Columbian mammoth named as her state's fossil. Now, she's written a book based on her real life experience of taking action to celebrate fossils!
• Curator for a Day — Eli Navant has an extraordinary story to tell about his passion for prehistoric life! "...on November 1, 2012 I had my first official interview. The staff at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science interviewed me for the position of Vice President of Research and Collections..."
• “Clarissasaurus” — Meet a young paleontologist who has a fossil named in her honor. Clarissa's story is now told in a book titled, "Dinogirl: The story of a Girl and a Dinosaur" by Denise Porcello

Read about Clarissa's inspiring dino digs!

Part of a series of articles titled
Kids in Paleo.

Previous:
Curator for a Day

Next:
“Clarissasaurus”

Where this belongs

• Badlands National Park

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