High School Students Find 200 Million Year Old Phytosaur Skull During Paleontology Dig with Mesalands Community College

TUCUMCARI, N.M., Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of 13 high school students from around the U.S. participating in a summer paleontology field class with Mesalands Community College found a crocodile-like phytosaur skull, which is approximately 220 million years old. Further research is being conducted to identify the species of the phytosaur.

"I never expected to find a fossil of this quality. Our time in the field has finally paid off," Dr. Axel Hungerbuehler, Mesalands faculty member and curator of the College's Dinosaur Museum and Natural Sciences Laboratory.

For the past two years, Mesalands has offered a STEM bridge course geared towards high school juniors and seniors. Coordinated with Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, students learn how to properly dig up fossils in the Quay County area. The 13 high school students in the 2014 Paleontology Trek program worked side-by-side with professional paleontologist Hungerbuehler and his colleagues on excavation projects and bone-hunting missions.

"I enjoy paleontology very much, and when my mom and I found this class online I thought it would be a great experience," said Theo Lyman, 18, a participant in the Paleontology Trek program. "This class has been very enriching, and I really appreciate the continual days of prospecting."

The phytosaur skull is the first essentially complete skull of any vertebrate found in the Trujillo Formation of New Mexico (and Texas), the third of five successive rock formations that comprise the Upper Triassic rocks of eastern New Mexico and Texas.

"Once identified, the recently found phytosaur skull will almost certainly prove a crucial piece of evidence for our research project focused on biozones in the Southwest," added Hungerbuehler.

The phytosaur was a Triassic reptile distantly related to crocodiles, which they resembled in appearance and semi-aquatic lifestyle.  Phytosaurs could grow up to approximately 25 feet in length and had long narrow snouts lined with sharply pointed teeth. 

Mesalands offers one of the nation's only two-year Associate of Art degrees in Paleontology, which provides a primary education in the earth and biological sciences with an emphasis on paleontology.

About Mesalands

Mesalands Community College is an institution of higher education that promotes student learning through quality education and services while fostering personal growth, leadership, and opportunity to a culturally diverse community. Visit www.mesalands.edu.

SOURCE Mesalands Community College