“It blew all of our minds," his mother said of the prehistoric find
Craig Thomas, BLM Rock Springs Field Office; courtesy of the Tate Geological Museum, Casper, Wyoming
NEED TO KNOW
- An 11-year-old discovered a nearly 50-million-year-old fossil while hunting for rocks with his grandparents in Wyoming
- Touren Pope was rewarded by assisting with the excavation and was also allowed to name the fossilized turtle
- “Within a few minutes, we could tell it was a pretty complete turtle shell and worth collecting,” a museum specialist said
Touren Pope is already recognized in the paleontology world at a young age.
Last year, the 11-year-old was hunting for rocks with his grandparents, Patti and Tom Patterson, on the Bureau of Land Management–managed public land in southwest Wyoming, when he discovered fossilized turtle remains dating back millions of years.
“We went searching for rocks and found a white, clam-like shells…and like they were broken, some were not…very fragile and then I just got bored and it started doing weird stuff and I found it," Touren said, Wyoming News Now reported Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Craig Thomas, BLM Rock Springs Field Office
Per a press release, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) stated that the prehistoric animal has stayed put in what used to be Lake Gosiute for nearly 48 million years.
Long before Touren’s find, what is now the arid Greater Green River Basin used to be a large, tropical floodplain with an abundance of fish, crocodiles and turtles.
Patti and Tom said they knew their grandson had found something special, and texted a photo to his mother, amateur geologist Tessa Patterson.
“It blew all of our minds. We’re like, ‘What is this?’ ” Tessa said, per Wyoming Public Media.
Next, the family of three followed guidelines and reported the discovery to the BLM, with the paleontology staff at the Rock Springs Field Office (RSFO) being alerted.
“Within a few minutes, we could tell it was a pretty complete turtle shell and worth collecting,” museum specialist J.P. Cavigelli, who was part of the excavation team, said, WPM reported.
Officials with BLM confirmed the fossil was “nearly complete and remarkably well preserved.”
Craig Thomas, BLM Rock Springs Field Office
Cavigelli classified the turtle as being soft-shelled, saying many of its descendants are alive today.
“Let’s say you were experienced in looking at softshell turtles in Florida or Louisiana, and you came out here, time traveled, went back 50 million years – you would be able to say, ‘That is a softshell turtle,’ ” he explained.
Craig Thomas, an archaeologist and paleontology field coordinator for the BLM Rock Springs Field Office, told WPM that Touren found the specimen just in time.
“If we don’t find them in time, they tend to degrade rapidly when they reach the surface,” Thomas said of the fossil.
Craig Thomas, BLM Rock Springs Field Office
Touren not only helped with the excavation, but officials also let him name his archeological find.
He chose “Little Timmy" for the turtle.
“This discovery would not have been possible without Touren’s keen observation for fossils and his decision to report the fossil to the BLM. By doing the right thing, he was rewarded with a unique and memorable opportunity to take part in the excavation process,” the BLM's press release read.
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“His discovery not only helped preserve an important piece of Wyoming’s paleontological history but also highlighted the role the public plays in protecting and responsibly reporting scientific resources found on public lands,” the statement continued.
Little Timmy will now call the Tate Geological Museum home for all to see.
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