Fossil Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

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Mammoth Dig near Sherman 

Garland Mosasaur Dig 2008-2010         Arlington Archosaur 2008

Ovilla Mosasaur Dig 2007             Bangs Mammoth Dig 2005

What is the FBI?
The Fossil Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was formed by the Dallas Paleontological Society to rapidly provide manpower and expertise for paleontological projects. The team's capabilities include excavation of fossils, preparation of large fossils for display, investigation of calls about fossil finds and identification of fossils.

How to Request Assistance
If you are an individual that has found something interesting and need someone to follow, please take advantage of our services. If you are a museum or university and need help on a dig or preparation project we will help with that, too.  Contact the Director, Rocky Manning, call our Hotline number (metro) 817-355-4693, or come to one of our monthly meetings. The FBI is generally limited to the area within 100 miles from Dallas, but we may be able to assist with locations further away.

How to Join the Bureau
No experience is necessary to join the bureau, but it helps. To become a team member you must be a member of the Society. Once you are a member, contact Rocky Manning and complete the FBI application. The application includes a statement of understanding that all material removed from a dig or used in other projects is the property of the landowner and will be under the guardianship of a sponsoring institution. No team member may use his position on the team to further their own collecting interests.

Mammoth Dig south of Corsicana. 

This dig has concluded. Thanks to all who participated.  

The pelvis, scapula and lower jaw of a mammoth were found near Sherman. The FBI excavated and removed these bones March 11-14. The bones are well preserved and were in a sand and gravel matrix. All of the known material has been removed and no further excavation is planned.

WFAA in Dallas reported on the excavation. (Please note that mammoth is almost certainly a Columbian rather than a Woolly mammoth.)

Garland Mosasaur Dig 2008-2010

A mosasaur discovered in a creek in Garland took a while to excavate because the site was often under water. With small then larger dams constructed using heavy equipment the mosasaur was last block was removed and sent to the Heard Museum for final preparation in 2010.

Arlington Archosaur 2008-2011
There is some uncertainty who the first person was that made the discovery of the site in 2003. Olivia and Art Sahlstein were walking the site when Olivia asked Art if what she had found was a dinosaur.  Phil Kirchhoff, and Bill Walker Jr. were one set of fossil hunters. Both pairs are no longer concerned with who was first since what both pairs found was a major discovery, a dinosaur or more specifically, a protohadrosaur.

Art is a network administrator at the Region XI Education Service Center. Olivia is his daughter.

In 2010, Phil finished his Master's degree in an anthropology from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Bill is a real-life CSI for the City of Bedford, Texas.

Derek Main is a Ph.D candidate in Geology at UTA. Derek is incorporating material found at the dig site into his Ph.D. UTA's student newspaper, the Shorthorn, covered the Phil and Bill's find and has a follow-up story.

The Arlington Archosaur Site was dubbed because several other types of reptiles besides the hadrosaur have been discovered. There is also abundant carbonized wood. The site is still active in 2011. The site is not open to collectors.

Ovilla Mosasaur Dig 2007
Part of a Mosasaur was found in a creek near Ovilla, Texas. After removal from the ground, the mosasaur bones were were donated to the Museum of Science and Nature, Dallas, Texas where Anthony Fiorillo will study the fossil. 

Bangs Mammoth Dig 2005

A city worker discovered bones while digging a trench for a water line. The FBI was contacted as well as a group form Abilene. Word got out. Some of the bones initially uncovered were stolen. The Bangs Police Department subsequently became protectorates for the paleontological community. The Grace Museum in Abilene will house the mammoth.

If you want to join the Fossil Bureau of Investigation (FBI) contact Rocky Manning.