Prospecting

In order to find fossils one must know where to look. Sedimentary rocks of the right age are looked at, for example dinosaurs are only found in terrestrial rocks deposited near lakes or rivers of the age between Triassic and Cretacous. Geologic maps and aerial photographs are used to narrow the search down by locating potential outcrops in which the fossils may be located (Farlow et al, 1997).

Localities where other fossils have been found are often good places to search because the area may have erroded out new finds since the last dig (Farlow et al, 1997).

Once the locality has been found then the foot work starts, where the Palaeontologist and colleages walk around the site looking for clues, as to where a fossil find might be so that they can begin to dig it out (Farlow et al, 1997).