William Hammer, a paleontologist from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, digs on Mount Kirkpatrick in Antarctica, about 400 miles from the South Pole. William Hammer, a paleontologist from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, digs on Mount Kirkpatrick in Antarctica, about 400 miles from the South Pole.

Nathan Smith

Bones to Pick

Paleontologist William Hammer hunts dinosaur fossils in the Antarctic

  • By Sarah Zielinski
  • Smithsonian.com, November 26, 2007

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    Hammer and his colleagues camp out on a glacier for about two months during the Antarctic summer—with -20 degree temperatures and 24-hour daylight.

    Bones to Pick

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    Most of Antarctica's fossils lie buried beneath glaciers, but prime bits of fossil-bearing sedimentary rock jut thousands of feet above the ice. Geologic forces have created mountains where once an ancient river flowed, and it is here intrepid dinosaur hunters, such as William Hammer, come to search out the past. He's made the journey from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, to Antarctica seven times in the last 30 years.

    Finding dinosaur fossils isn't all that hard, but extracting them is. Hammer and his colleagues camp out on a glacier for about two months during the Antarctic summer—with -20 degree temperatures and 24-hour daylight—500 miles from the nearest medical aid. Though some of Hammer's digs are accessible by snowmobile, the dinosaur site on the side of Mount Kirkpatrick can be reached only by helicopter and only when the weather cooperates. Then they have to hope that they'll be able to start the gas-powered jackhammers, drills, and saws they use to extract large chunks of rock. This is a difficult task most days, made worse when the tools' plastic casings get so cold and brittle that they break.

    Some days are better than others, especially when it comes to transportation. During his last trip, there was a problem with one of the helicopters, Hammer explains. "They said they did a 'hard landing,' but when the landing gear goes through the bottom of the helicopter, to me, that's a crash."

    Given the conditions, Hammer doesn't search for anything in particular. "We look for whatever we can find," he says, and they've made some amazing finds: The fossilized bones of a 22-foot-long meat-eating crested dinosaur, called Cryolophosaurus elloti, were covered with teeth from small theropods (relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex) that had scavenged the large polar dinosaur after its death. Plant remains nearby and the sediments in which the bones were buried indicate that the dinosaur probably lived at a time when the region's climate was cool temperate, like coastal Washington state but not as wet, Hammer says. And though the bones can't tell him much about the animal's physiology or behavior, he says, "the dinosaurs and other animals we find do not show any special adaptations for cold or darkness," unlike some polar dinosaur remains found in Australia.

    There have been plenty of non-dino fossils, too, especially from the time period before dinosaurs lived. These have included "weird amphibians with three-foot-long skulls that look like toilet lids," Hammer says, and his favorite, the front end of the snout of another amphibian with three-inch-long fangs.

    Despite the weather, altitude, and occasionally scary rides in ski-planes and helicopters, Hammer keeps going south to search for more. He's hoping to return in the next year or two so he can extract some bones that he found during his last expedition. "It's kind of like a trip to outer space," he says, "but you don't have to wear space suits, just a lot of clothes."

    Most of Antarctica's fossils lie buried beneath glaciers, but prime bits of fossil-bearing sedimentary rock jut thousands of feet above the ice. Geologic forces have created mountains where once an ancient river flowed, and it is here intrepid dinosaur hunters, such as William Hammer, come to search out the past. He's made the journey from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, to Antarctica seven times in the last 30 years.

    Finding dinosaur fossils isn't all that hard, but extracting them is. Hammer and his colleagues camp out on a glacier for about two months during the Antarctic summer—with -20 degree temperatures and 24-hour daylight—500 miles from the nearest medical aid. Though some of Hammer's digs are accessible by snowmobile, the dinosaur site on the side of Mount Kirkpatrick can be reached only by helicopter and only when the weather cooperates. Then they have to hope that they'll be able to start the gas-powered jackhammers, drills, and saws they use to extract large chunks of rock. This is a difficult task most days, made worse when the tools' plastic casings get so cold and brittle that they break.

    Some days are better than others, especially when it comes to transportation. During his last trip, there was a problem with one of the helicopters, Hammer explains. "They said they did a 'hard landing,' but when the landing gear goes through the bottom of the helicopter, to me, that's a crash."

    Given the conditions, Hammer doesn't search for anything in particular. "We look for whatever we can find," he says, and they've made some amazing finds: The fossilized bones of a 22-foot-long meat-eating crested dinosaur, called Cryolophosaurus elloti, were covered with teeth from small theropods (relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex) that had scavenged the large polar dinosaur after its death. Plant remains nearby and the sediments in which the bones were buried indicate that the dinosaur probably lived at a time when the region's climate was cool temperate, like coastal Washington state but not as wet, Hammer says. And though the bones can't tell him much about the animal's physiology or behavior, he says, "the dinosaurs and other animals we find do not show any special adaptations for cold or darkness," unlike some polar dinosaur remains found in Australia.

    There have been plenty of non-dino fossils, too, especially from the time period before dinosaurs lived. These have included "weird amphibians with three-foot-long skulls that look like toilet lids," Hammer says, and his favorite, the front end of the snout of another amphibian with three-inch-long fangs.

    Despite the weather, altitude, and occasionally scary rides in ski-planes and helicopters, Hammer keeps going south to search for more. He's hoping to return in the next year or two so he can extract some bones that he found during his last expedition. "It's kind of like a trip to outer space," he says, "but you don't have to wear space suits, just a lot of clothes."


     
    Comments

    I think this is a cool discovery and when dug up conpleatly sould be donated to the smithsonian musiam to keep it safe. The Smithsoninm can also show it in an exibit!

    Posted by CARI on February 7,2008 | 09:53 AM

    i have found some coins,i think these are from the kunishkan period or gandhar region i dont know about much this,i love archeology but i havenot any type of resourses to dig the site and start axcavation,i m student of culture heritage from hazara universty PAKISTAN and we havent any type of scintific resourses to dug that sites,i want to know about that coins tell me how i will know about them.

    Posted by jansher khan on February 14,2008 | 09:58 AM

    i was driving truck on a site that was digging up a shalebank in p.a. and the excavator operator uncovered some round stones , i picked a couple of them up just thinking they could be dino-eggs probably not but im a very curious person and want to know if it is possible i know there is no way you would know without seeing them but is there any way i could find out myself im not real sure that its possible or not im just a dino fan and would love to know for peace of mind..........

    Posted by Jason smeal on September 27,2008 | 10:26 PM

    just dig and dig until you find what youre looking for!!!

    Posted by mitoks on January 9,2009 | 08:52 PM

    Posted by ernestina on April 25,2009 | 04:02 AM

    This guy Hammer doesn't do hardly any of the work. He sits at the home base and lets the undergrads do all the work. The picture isn't even from Antartica; it is from Illinois in the winter.

    Posted by Joe Smith on October 6,2009 | 01:37 PM

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