Through PaleoServices, the Paleontology Department is regularly involved in construction projects throughout southern California and the Central Valley.
Typical mitigation programs include on-site monitoring of active excavations, discovery and recovery of exposed fossils, transportation of recovered specimens to a professional preparation/conservation laboratory, laboratory-based preparation and curation of recovered fossils, and permanent storage of curated fossils in our paleontological collections, where they are available for present and future generations of citizens, students, and professional scientists.
Projects range from large residential developments involving mass grading of millions of cubic yards of sedimentary rock, to high-rise buildings with subterranean parking structures, to shopping malls, or individual buildings. More.
PaleoServices has worked on a diversity of project involving the construction of new roadways and railways, or improvements to existing transportation infrastructure. More.
Utility projects include construction of electrical transmission lines and substations, sewer and water pipelines, and landfills. PaleoServices also provides services for renewable energy project such as construction of solar and wind energy facilities, and during construction on oil and gas fields. More.
PaleoServices staff provide paleontological record searches, resource assessments, field surveys, mitigation plans, and related services for a diversity of projects.
Paleontologists describe new species of sabre-tooth false-cat, showing early evolution of carnivores during time of global climatic instability. Read more.
The San Luis Rey River Valley is home to the first fossil evidence of modern capybara ancestors in North America Read more.
When life gives you a whale head, you bury it, then give it a bath, and let the research begin. Read more.
Just how do you find out how many of these dinosaurs lived on our planet? Scientists used the fossil record of T. rex and the principles of population ecology to estimate dinosaur demographics and the chances of finding an extinct animal in the fossil record. Read more.
Specimens collected in Antarctica have allowed a team of scientists, including Dr. Ashley Poust of The Nat, to update the fossil record of giant birds. The 50 million-year-old fossils belong to an extinct group of ocean-going birds with large tooth-like spikes in their beaks. This discovery may be the oldest example of truly giant flying birds and adds to our understanding of the evolution of coastal ecosystems worldwide. Read more.