Paleontologists must record geographic location (exactly where the fossils were found) and geologic data (the layer and age of rock they were located). The fossils are then tagged with coded numbers and letters which correspond with the documentation notes. These documentation notes are called field notes. Field notes will give several different types of information.
A regular western document for a fossil's geographic
locality might read something like this:
Specimen field number: GLC96-56
Locality Data: Colorado, Mesa County
SE 1/4 NW 1/4, Section 12, Township 3 South
Range 15 west (of the Ute Prime Meridian)
With the new Geographic Positioning Satellite (GPS) devices, paleontologists are now recording their fossil sites in terms of latitude and longitude, worldwide. A GPS geographic locality might read like this:
Specimen Field Number: GLC96-56
Locality Data: Colorado, Mesa County
108┬╛ 42' 15.87" West Latitude,
39┬╛ 13' 71.32" North Longitude
The geological component of the locality data might read:
Specimen Field Number: GLC96-56
Late Jurassic, Morrison Formation
Brushy Bush Basin Member
3 meters above contact with Salt Wash Member
in greenish bentonitic mudstone adjacent to sandstone levee
Field notes may give additional information such as: collector, date of collection, who else was in the field party, local assistance, and which road to take to bring a vehicle nearest to the fossil site.
All this data is kept in a field notebook or a computer. The actual fossil specimen receives a tag with a field number. The number might look like this:
Specimen Field Number: GLC96-56
By having this information, whoever studies these fossils knows who found them, when and where they were found and how old they are. Museums which keep and care for the collections can be used like reference libraries of life's history on Earth.
