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