Pioneers of Paleontology

Pioneers of Paleontology. . Petrified Forest is a laboratory where scientists study not only the fossil record, but the records of earlier discoveries by naturalists and paleontologists., Interest in the area’s fossils goes back to 1853, when a U.S. Army expedition discovered the Black Forest in what would become the park’s northern section. Later, at the request of General William Tecumseh Sherman, two petrified logs from that area were acquired for the Smithsonian Institution., Conservationist John Muir collected fossils and named some of the park’s “forests” in the early 1900s, when he was living in nearby Adamana., Annie Alexander and a companion discovered some of the first fossil reptiles and amphibians in 1921. They brought their findings to the attention of Charles L. Camp, who went on to spend nearly a decade studying the fossil vertebrates of the area., These scientists are just some of the paleontological pioneers who laid the foundation of current studies into the park’s treasure trove of fossils.