Mude Paleontology Laboratory

Mude Paleontology Laboratory 

Mezzanine, Coahuila. January 2, 2019 (Conacyt Information Agency) .- Mexico has 13 records of dinosaur families that lived in the country, of which, ten have been findings made in Coahuila; Also, researchers from the Desert Museum (Mude) have discovered nine new species of dinosaurs in different areas of the entity.

Given the paleontological wealth of Coahuila, the growth of the state fossil collection and the need to strengthen this type of research in northeastern Mexico, the new Mude Paleontology Laboratory was created.

These new facilities will allow the entire team of specialists of the Desert Museum to increase the paleontological work of the state, by preparing, exhibiting and safeguarding all the fossil materials they have discovered in Coahuila.

With the support of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt), the State Council of Science and Technology of Coahuila (Coecyt) and the Autonomous University of Coahuila (Uadec), this laboratory will contribute to strengthen and increase the paleontological relevance of Coahuila nationwide and international

Develop paleontological potential

A paleontology laboratory is a special area designated for the preparation, cleaning, replication, and storage of fossil materials. The Mude had a special area for these works, but it was insufficient due to the growth of the fossil collection and the paleontological research needs of the institution.

“We had a designated area for this purpose in the previous laboratory; nevertheless, the great growth of the collection, of all this paleontological wealth of Coahuila, made it necessary to expand this, in addition to making it a little more accessible to the public. There were parts that the public did not see, ”said Dr. Héctor Rivera Sylva, head and researcher of the Mude Department of Paleontology.

The specialist added that people did not have access to important paleontological aspects, such as the geographic reference collection or the paleontological collection of Coahuila, and now, through display windows, they can know how fossils look, arrive and shelter.

Based on the support of the Conacyt-Government of the Coahuila State of Zaragoza Joint Fund, with the participation of Conacyt, Coecyt and the Autonomous University of Coahuila, the Desert Museum strengthened the infrastructure for the creation of this new Paleontology Laboratory, with the objective of investigating, disseminating and disseminating results of paleontological work in the entity. These facilities had an investment of 13 million 200 thousand pesos.

Rivera Sylva said that this new area is of great importance for the institution since it will increase its research and organization of the paleontological heritage of the state.

“It is important, mainly, for the area of ​​paleontological collection, because it is something that is increasing, it does not stay as it is. Our fossils are increasing exponentially, thanks to the paleontological richness in Coahuila, and that is why the area has to be greatly increased. Before, there was this area that is now offices for the collection, but that area has to grow and not only the new specimens but also the specimens molds have to be protected and have a separate area for these molds, ”Rivera explained Sylva

The new Mude Paleontology Laboratory has, among other things, a hood for waste and hazardous material handling, rock cutters, shelves for the paleontological reference collection of Coahuila with a much larger area, five offices, and a paleontological library. In addition to between nine and ten work stations for fossil preparers (healers); unlike the previous space that had a station enabled with a maximum of three stations to work.

Combined with more space, infrastructure, and tools, this laboratory will allow us to increase at least 25 percent more the speed of fossil preparation and paleontological research.

“It gives us faster and faster speed in the fossil cleaning process. Before we had one or two preparers cleaning fossils, now we can have up to ten at the same time cleaning these materials. Obviously, that helps us to make everything ready in a short period to do the research, ”said Rivera Sylva.

Paleontological work and exhibition

When paleontologists work in the field, the fossil pieces arrive in a plaster jacket, that is, covered, protected and encapsulated with this material. When he arrives at the laboratory, the preparation process begins. The jacket is opened, the conditions of the piece are analyzed and the cleaning is started, it sticks if it is broken or, if it is not consolidated, chemical substances are added to harden it. This whole process will be possible to optimize and increase it and even show it to visitors, with these new Mude facilities.

The new Paleontology Laboratory opens the panorama and the possibilities for all those who work in fossil preparation and research, said Julio Alberto Robledo García, fossil preparer of the Mude Paleontology Laboratory.

My main function is to prepare the pieces that arrive from the field, remove sediment, leave them completely clean. In case we have to rebuild some parts, it is also part of my work within the laboratory (...) Having this new area is better, it is a very complete laboratory, we already have totally adequate areas to work with the preparation, and the laboratory is in optimal conditions to perform both paleontological work, as curatorship, molding, and duplication of parts, ”he said.

The cleaning of a piece varies according to its condition and size, for example, to prepare a fossil piece between 40 and 50 centimeters in diameter, it is necessary between a month and a month and a half of work, while there are small pieces that can Clean in a single day. However, the increase in laboratory workstations will accelerate the cleaning and paleontological research process of the Mude.

“In the laboratory, we are different people, some make molds and duplicates, others are dedicated to making paleoesculturas, researchers who are paleontologists, and we who are fossil healers. It varies too much the time of preparation of a piece, by the magnitudes, hard sediments, or in case the bones are very recent and do not come consolidated, as it happens in Coahuila, and they must be hardened enough using chemicals and substances to strengthen them and rescue them. But with more work stations, the museum's cleaning capacity will increase, ”added curator, Robledo García.

This laboratory was enabled to be part of the exhibits of the Desert Museum, with these new facilities, visitors will be able to know in more detail how paleontological research and preparation is carried out.

“It is a learning process, obviously a dinosaur skeleton is beautiful, but it is also educational to say that for that, to present the skeleton, all this is needed, the whole process in the laboratory, which is the biggest job. No one realizes the true work of the paleontologist until they see that the fossils are cleaned and that the skeleton is not armed in the field. The dinosaur is disarmed, it is broken, you have to interpret it, you have to clean it, you have to study it, save the original pieces. This whole process is very important to make it known and we will explain it to the people along the way, ”said Rivera Sylva.

There are sections where, through a window, the public can see the preparers, cleaning the pieces and can interact with them using a microphone to ask what they are cleaning and the curator can respond to inform people.

Together with this laboratory that presents the paleontological process to the public, the Mude enabled a room with fossil, interactive and historical materials for visitors.

“We have large pieces such as the replica of Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna; we have a robot from a dinosaur Deinonychus sp. In smaller pieces we have a lot of original ammonites, an original skeleton of Psittacosaurus, a dinosaur from Asia, we also have a Stenopterygius sp., A marine reptile from Germany and some smaller fossils such as amber, crabs, trilobites, some fossils of Vallecillo, Nuevo León, ”Rivera Sylva listed.

Along with this content, the Mude exhibits replicas of two new species discovered by its team of paleontologists such as Yehuecauhceratops mudei and Acantholipan Gonzalez, along with a timeline of the history of paleontology, from ancient Greece to today in Coahuila.

Regarding the next projects of the Department of Paleontology of Mude, Rivera Sylva commented that, with the laboratory enabled, there will be more field trips, since they did not have space to safeguard findings by the works, and now activities will resume.

“We have other areas of prospecting, we have other items at the door that we also expect next year to come to light. We hope that we will soon have new results and take advantage of the full potential of the laboratory, ”said Rivera Sylva.

The members of the Department of Paleontology of the Mude invite the general public to know this new showroom and to know the work of this new laboratory.

“It's something very complete, a satisfaction because not everyone is dedicated to this type of work, being part of this team. It is a very nice job, the people who have the opportunity to be close to this laboratory are very happy, because after 19 years, having these facilities is very pleasant for us and inviting all the people who come to know the facilities of this museum and its paleontological work that presents part of the fossil wealth of Coahuila, ”said Robledo García.