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