REFIND
Remote strategies for fossil finding

The project investigates strategies to discover new fossil remains, in ways not affected by taphonomical processes nor taxonomical classifications. 

• applied to surveys aiming of catching fossils exposed on desert surface, the method uses high resolution multispectral imageries recorded from satellites and drones. Instead of searching for potential outcrops, the developed method targets single fossil specimens, improving efficiency and effectiveness of field surveys. 
• Where arboreal coverture prevents the use of imageries, estimated geographic distribution of extinct species is preferred to narrow regions with high potential for the presence of fossil sites.

The outcomes are significant to recover new fossil specimens, making them available for the scientific community and preventing their complete destruction because of erosion and human or other natural activities. Moreover, the method limits risks and costs related to field works. Finally, it is suitable for monitoring the location of known fossils over time.

Flyer of the project

612 KB

The John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon

This locality preserves a unique fossil record, spanning from the Eocene to the Miocene, approximately from 44 to 7 million years ago. It preserves fossils of large and small mammals. The size of their bones prevented the use of satellite imageries, so a direct survey was needed to infer the position of fossils. Two localities have been surveyed: photo of slopes had been recorded at the National Monument, walking on paths reserved for tourists and using an extendible pole and a RGB + NIR camera. The area of Logan Butte has been surveyed with a drone (UAV Phantom) and a NIR camera added as payload.

The Petrified Forest, Arizona

The Triassic deposit (around 250 million of years ago) of the Petrified Forest returned fine preserved fossil logs and remains of the first dinosaurs living on land.
Cluster analyses have been used on World View 2 satellite imageries to infer the position of fossil logs at this national park.
The attention has been focused on the Crystal Forest, with the intent of mapping the position of exposed fossils and infer the position of logs not visible from the road.

The Pisco Basin, Peru

This fossil Lagerstätte is the only locality preserving entire skeletons of thousands of cetaceans, including the largest known extinct odontocetes and the first evolved baleen whales, marine birds, and pinnipeds. The largest skeletons lay on surface and are intensively studied by Italian and US researchers. In collaboration with the University of Pisa, the region of Cerro Colorado and Cerro Los Quesos had been surveyed though both imageries of the World View 3 satellite and in person using a drone. The peculiar taphonomy and mineral impregnation of the fossil bones make this locality challenging for the purposes of the REFIND project.

Analyses of range distributions

The distribution range of extinct species vary according to the algorithm used to infer their presence.

Five coupled species with similar ecology have been chosen to compare the outcomes in Europe and North America, where climatic changes acted partially with different patterns and humans impacted the environment in successive times. 

• European lion vs. American lion:
• European wolf vs. dire wolf:
• European leopard vs. couguar
• Cave bear vs. brown bear
• Reindeer vs. caribou

Revision of American lions at the Rancho la Brea Tar Pits Museum

Hundreds of thousands of skeletal remains have been recovered from the La Brea Tar Pits so far. More than two thousand have been determined as Panthera atrox. This species is still enigmatic regarding some aspect of its behavior, diet, and social structure.