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Trilobita (Pinkerton Trail Limestone member of the Hermosa Formation) |
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The following is not necessarily a conversation, but it is s snippet of comments from a few people with whom I had a conversation in a store during the summer of 2006. My comments are in [this color, inside of these brackets].
| The Comments-- Store Employee: "Well, I'm not sure. It might be a trilobite, but I can't say for sure." Store Owner: [actually, he's a geologist and author] "Boy, I have no idea. Maybe we should ask this other fella over there though. He'll know. He's a geology professor at [some college] and he has studied everything in these parts for decades." Geo. Prof.: "Nah, that's not a trilobite. I don't know what it is, but it's probably a crinoid stem [great terminology there] or something. No one has ever found a trilobite up there. There aren't any trilobites in that formation anyway. [For the average Joe that doesn't really know much about this are in particular, everything he said thus far could have been OK without what followed] --> They died out long before that [long before the Pennsylvanian?!?]. |
Now, the
geologist/author/store owner (second comments above) holds a special place in my life
(he's the one that turned me on to this locality in the first place), and a great deal of respect
(He's one of the humblest folks I've ever met. He never said anything like "I'm a
big, important geologist in these here parts". Although he could have, because
that's exactly what he is).
As for the The Geo. Prof. (the third comment above) though... I'm not sure yet.
I think I need more experience with him.
It seems like if I hadn't
known anything about the area, I might have just 'bought' it.
However, in light of my previous understanding of the nature and age of the
formation in question, I'm more inclined to take the honest "I have no idea"
from my friend, the store owner than the "there aren't any trilobites in that
formation" from the geology professor.
I won't throw the baby out with the
bathwater though... I do like the sound of "No one has ever found a trilobite up
there" when I'm holding at least one of them in my hand. :)
...and who knows....if he's open to learning and growing in his understanding of
the geology in the area, as a professional geologist, along with my store-owner
friend, perhaps someday he'll co-author our paper on the Pinkerton Trail
Trilobites.
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? What do you |~_~| |